A review by bookook
The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Wow. One of the best books I've read in many years, and certainly one of the weirdest. I'm very close to giving it a perfect 5 for ambition alone, but I think I'm still processing and full of adrenaline, and don'  want to inflate it. A really gripping and emotional ending, but a lot of threads that didn't particularly go anywhere or pay off. 

Still, wow. I'm not sure where to begin or how to describe it. You don't learn until almost halfway through the book what "the anomaly" is - i.e., what connects all the passengers of the March Paris/NYC flight. The tension ebbs and flows throughout the book, and characters react in such deeply felt, real, sympathetic ways. Very thought-provoking and interesting. Very excited to read more by this author! 

Reason for the 0.25 dock:

I think there are several characters and sections that feel interesting and like good flavor, but don't actually go anywhere.  Like, Blake and Adrian had big intros, but they and their subplots then fade into irelevance and need to be tidily resolved. E.g., "turns out Blake is super good at his job and FBI doesn't try to find him" feels weird and too convenient.