The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a San Francisco Web-design drone—and serendipity, sheer curiosity, and the ability to climb a ladder like a monkey has landed him a new gig working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore.
But after just a few days on the job, Clay begins to realize that this store is even more curious than the name suggests. There are only a few customers, but they come in repeatedly and never seem to actually buy anything, instead "checking out" impossibly obscure volumes from strange corners of the store, all according to some elaborate, long-standing arrangement with the gnomic Mr. Penumbra.
The store must be a front for something larger, Clay concludes, and soon he's embarked on a complex analysis of the customers' behavior and roped his friends into helping to figure out just what's going on. But once they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, it turns out the secrets extend far outside the walls of the bookstore.
Growing up in the Bay Area, I love when a book is set in San Francisco. Add a bookstore and quirky people and you have my attention.
I didn't know what to expect when I started this book, but I couldn't put it down. I had to know what happened.
Clay Jannon loses his job doing web design for a bagel company and lands a new job as the night clerk in a weird 24-hour bookstore. Rarely selling, but often logging in details about the odd visitors who borrow old books from high up the shelves. Books he isn't supposed to open.
I don't usually enjoy a first person narrative, but I liked Clay's voice and his observations. The story is very much like a puzzle to be solved, as you follow Clay's creativity in finding answers to his curiosity.
From old books and ancient cloaks, to fancy tech toys and Google, Mr. Penumbra's Bookstore is where secret, ancient societies meet technology and the result is whimsical delight.
And, the cover glows in the dark.
I purchased my own copy.
Read 1/20
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5/5 Stars
This is really intriguing - a bookstore and quirky people. You couldn't ask for more at this time.
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