Mental instability provides some stable thrills

When I first saw the title The Raw Shark Texts, I thought, "Oh great ... if only I were reading it in the fourth grade," which was when I loved everything about sharks. I thought that it was going to have some cute, predictable plot about sharks, like a youth on an abandoned island, who ends up befriending a messenger shark.

But I learned my lesson: Don't judge a book by its title.

Texts, the debut novel by Steven Hall, is a fascinating story of loss, hope, and full-blown insanity. It was also a bestseller as a hardcover, now finally coming to paperback.

The main character, Eric Sanderson, is likeable because of sympathy and a hint of the please-don't-let-that-happen-to-me feeling that he evokes from readers. Basically, he wakes up one day to find that he doesn't understand how to operate in this world because he has suffered from amnesia. Three years before, the love of his life died from a scuba diving accident, and this was a consequence.

Eric begins receiving letters from the old him (before amnesia). These letters try to help him regain his old self by giving him clues. What's so interesting and sadly funny is that the old him wasn't all there either.

What is even more powerful is that this book is in first person, allowing the reader to go into the personal thoughts and logic of Eric. This does cause a problem, however, because, like in Huckleberry Finn, readers are left wondering how much is really happening to Eric.

The "shark" part of this story is really intriguing. This shark - the Ludovician - is a creation of Eric's mind, and he tries to run away from it, needing to put all the pieces of the puzzle of life together and find love.

The reader finds that Eric does have a psychological disorder - fugue - which a doctor diagnoses and tells him to stop reading the letters from his old self, which are becoming detrimental to his health. Eric, however, decides that he knows best and that he should continue to piece together the puzzle to regain himself.

This book's plot is a loose interpretation of what can happen in the Information Age when there is so much going on. The reader may start to yearn for much simpler times for the main character, who is trapped by his own brain.

Calling this book unusual is an understatement. The concepts are nothing like what we understand today. For example, there is the idea of un-space, untouched areas underneath our cities and towns. So if you don't read this book with an open mind, then you will question it. Suspend your disbelief. Also, it all comes together in the end with a powerful ending that I won't spoil for you.

This book is one of the most innovative books I've read because there are clues. Some pages only have one sentence, and in the end, it resembles a flip book because words in the form of a shark can be flipped through to seem as though it is approaching. There are also weird theories that seem logical to Eric, including decoding the QWERTY keyboard. The reader is never bored because of the different formats that are used to move this story.

While it is over 400 pages long, it's definitely a psychological page-turner, which is a great way to procrastinate before a test. You'll be sitting at the edge of your uncomfortable dorm chair. And if you don't have time with papers and finals, read it during the summer.

This book is truly part of the new literature that's about to come. While psychological thrillers aren't a new thing, psychological issues have become such a prominent part of society today. This book is a call to be more understanding for those who are going through rough times in their lives and may have a different defense mechanism, which may be scary to those who don't understand. This book, however, is also a ton of fun to read.

Personally, I will never forget this book because it is so unique. It's a glimpse into a mind that most of the readers will never understand fully. A