The first 1/3 of this book is intriguing: the twin towers mysteriously rematerialize in the badlands of a mid-apocalyptic 2020 America with Elvis Presley's stillborn twin brother inside. He then jumps off the roof through a time portal into an alternative 1960s, undoing all sorts of historical events like a reverse Forrest Gump.

The remaining 2/3 of the book: *jerk-off hand motion* ( )

Feels like Erickson jumped the shark here. The idea is 9/11 turning point, divided America, other potential turning points e.g. no Elvis. But whereas in his other novels the pop culture works in the service of the story, here it is the other way around. It's basically an excuse for the author to foist all his favorite songs on us. There's an enormous amount of wanky musing on modern music clogging up a fairly standard magic-realist Big Idea, and quite a lot of annoying "author as character" nonsense too. ( )

HOLY. CATS. How do you describe a book that's about the sudden reappearance of the Twin Towers, unblemished and whole, in the Badlands of South Dakota 20 years after 9/11? How do I even begin to talk about a story that centers around Jesse Presley, the stillborn twin of Elvis, who wakes up on the 93rd floor of one of the towers only to escape and move through a world where one of the greatest entertainers of all time never existed? How can one possibly write coherently about a novel that follows two siblings as they drive across a country torn asunder, towards two towers that seem to sing, each person who stands in their shadows hearing a different song? Answer: you can't. Solution: read this. Read this unique, bonkers book. You'll be thinking about it long after you finish the last page. I know I will. ( )

A Novel with a capital N, that makes the medium great. I started it reluctantly and after the first page I couldn't stop reading.

I still don't know why. Maybe because there is no sentence to skip, the tone and rhythm is very engaging, the scenes are never too long or too short... or maybe that catching the musical/cultural references is rewarding. There was something (and cannot be the plot) that kept me reading and wishing to come back to the book as soon as I had a minute.

(I received a copy for review via NetGalley, and can only say a big thanks for such a great reading) ( )

This was a very strange book. I mean the Twin Towers showing up out in the middle of nowhere is strange enough and then everyone hearing a different song coming from it. Yeah, weird.

Then the story goes astray and we are brought into a conversation with Jack and Bobby Kennedy which is pretty much almost present day. They are talking about Adlai Stevenson and how successful he will be, even Nixon is in on the conversation, as well as LBJ.

Tne Jesse Presley part I definitely didn't get. I'm still not sure how he got from the roof of the tower onto the ground. He couldn't sing like his brother, I'm a whole lot lost on that part.

Actually I'm a whole lot lost on most of the book. For me it seems like something more on the level of The Twilight Zone.

Thanks to Blue Rider Press for approving my request and to Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review. ( )