Jess Walter’s post 9/11 novel The Zero is a crazy ride from beginning to end. In the opening of the novel, main character Brian Remy, a police officer, shoots himself in the head in an apparent suicide attempt after the attacks on the World Trade Center. The fact that he fails and lives to tell the tale of what happens to him over the next several months turns out to be a bizarre, absurd, mysterious, surreal, and unpredictable story of insanity and remorse, as Remy suffers chronic bouts of amnesia that no one seems to notice but him.

During these bouts, Remy, who might also be suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome as a result of 9/11, is another person altogether who is working as an undercover agent, torturing terrorist suspects, and cheating on his girlfriend, the one person in his life he truly loves. Add to that a broken marriage, a son who prefers to think of Remy as dead, and a serious drinking problem, and you have a main character who seems, more often than not, a dead man walking.

9/11 is not an easy subject to tackle in the realm of fiction, and neither is the emotional fallout from it, where a minefield of sentimentality and over-dramatization must be carefully avoided, and yet the elephant in the room has to be addressed. In lesser hands, such an ambitious work could have been a disjointed mess. But the novel is a treasure for fans of fractured narratives (and people), conspiracy theories, and dark satire, and for those who don’t mind being set adrift in a story that remains, in the end, as unresolved as the topic Jess has decided to take on. High scores for masterful writing as well: Highly recommended.

Of further interest…

The Zero was a finalist for the 2006 National Book Award. You can learn more about the author at his website.

Oh, BTW, I picked up this book at the McNally Robinson in Winnipeg on my last visit there; they have some of the best remainders in the biz!

Citizen Vince was the winner of the 2005 Edgar Allan Poe Award for best novel. I’m definitely adding this one to my list of must-reads.