Crab, from Submodern Books, is now available at Amazon:
Crab: a novel by Mark Wallace
It’s 1999. Change is coming. A mysterious technology called
the Crab is infiltrating the minds of U.S. citizens with dreams from another
planet. Sarah’s psychic abilities make her the first person to recognize the
alien dreams crashing around New York City, but what should she do? Does the
Crab free people’s minds, or enslave them? Marinda, a painter who can’t make
herself paint, has an ex-boyfriend determined to get her back or punish her for
leaving, he can’t tell which. The strange late night phone calls he’s getting,
source unknown, are egging him on. Jerry, who thinks New York is his for the
taking, is getting the calls too, and growing increasingly volatile and confused.
Across the U.S., in government buildings and in bars, violence is spreading,
and no one knows why. Is it the Crab? As the danger rises in this disturbing,
suspenseful, and humorous novel, the question turns urgent: whose dreams are
people really dreaming?
*
Crab is a
perfect example of slipstream fiction. It blends literary and sci-fi writing
seamlessly and enjoyably. Wallace makes use of sophisticated language and
in-depth psychological development, the hallmarks of good literary writing.
With equal ease, he crafts an engaging plot and interesting speculative
concepts, both central to sci-fi. We encounter technologically induced
surrealism alongside psychological realism alongside dystopian decline alongside
that rarest thing in fiction: deft and actually funny humor. A compelling and
original work, Crab should garner
much attention and many devoted readers.
—Okla
Elliott, author of From the Crooked
Timber and The Doors You Mark Are
Your Own
Book Design by James Meetze
