The Manuscript
Macmillan New Writing Series
By Michael Stephen Fuchs
August 2006
Macmillan
ISBN: 023000096
348 pages, 5 1/4 x 8:
$29.95 Hardcover
While the cover of the book may make it appear so, The Manuscript is not your typical 'high-speed, action-packed thriller'. It is indeed 'high-speed', and incredibly 'action-packed', but it is smarter, funnier, more intricate, and surprisingly more inspiring than one might expect of the genre. Relating the race to recover a document that is storied to contain the final answers to The Big Questions about life, the universe, and everything, The Manuscript seamlessly incorporates ruminations on the nature of human existence into a plot filled with good guy versus bad guy, narrow escapes, technological tampering, and plenty of gunplay. One could compare it to the Da Vinci Code in its account of a modern-day perilous quest for a mystical artefact, except that the writing is more skilful, it doesn't incorporate any bad science, and it doesn't insult any world religions (well, at least not directly).
Fuchs creates an impressively large cast of diverse and well-conceived characters, whose divergent story-lines come together at a measured, but absorbing, pace. This novel is not about 'wham, bham, thank-you mam' action, but rather offers little 'tastes' of action as it builds up to its climax slowly, enjoying 'the ungentle ride' along the way, like a literary version of tantric sex.
While the snappy dialogue, profusion of hip, youthful characters, and in-depth descriptions of the ins and outs of the internet may appear to appeal only to a younger crowd, the novel's intelligent handling of everything from the history of philosophy to the rules of how to win a gunfight should appeal to anyone who enjoys what is, simply, a good read. The novel is certainly not for technophobes, but its savvy explanations of the inners workings of the internet do not require one to be a card-carrying computer geek to understand and enjoy the novel's technologically-embedded plot. And one cannot underestimate the enjoyment engendered by shameless philosophical and religious speculation. I read The Manuscript cover to cover, not being able to put it down throughout the long and unpleasant flight for which it was my chosen entertainment. Not only was I well-entertained, but also may have been, at least a little bit, enlightened.
[NOTE: This review was written for amazon.co.uk by Nicole M. Gyulay.]
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