The First Verse: A Novel
Pop-culture scholars have theorized that our digital age, which emphasizes the linear and logical, has created at least a generation or two starved for ancient rites and ritual, for the mystical, magical elements a world structured on bits and bytes lacks. How else to explain the multigenerational appeal ofHarry Potter,The DaVinci Code, and evenJoan of Arcadia? Some culture gurus suggest an almost cultlike yet mass hunger that seeks to useCodeand its ilk to explain the world's mysteries. Into this milieu comes McCrea's first novel about Trinity College (Dublin) freshman Niall Lenihan, who dives into new experiences, in particular a cult that makes a game and, eventually, a dangerous addiction of signs and secrets its members derive from literature, e-mail, and text-messaging. Set in Paris as well as Dublin, McCrea's gay Gen X opus delivers sharp pacing and a sense of place colored by the state of mind that leads a young man to lose a year of his life to odd pursuits.Whitney ScottCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved