“You are the master of every situation”

It all started with a fortune cookie.

An exploding fortune cookie.

Ted Hall is out with friends celebrating his thirty-seventh birthday when a confectionery disaster cuts the party short and leaves Ted feeling concussed and confused.

Felled by a fortune cookie.

Things haven’t even begun to get weird.

Elsewhere in San Francisco, victims of the so-called Hang Wire Killer continue to mount, making it unsafe to be caught out in the city streets alone. The circus has come to town, bringing with it a mysterious costumed trapeze artist who calls himself Hirewire. And something long dormant beneath the streets of the city by the Bay is starting to awaken, which in turn stirs both gods and nameless evil, drawing all to this one spot for what could be the end of all humanity.

“You are the master of every situation.”

Author Adam Christopher’s latest novel, Hang Wire, may be dubbed on the cover as “Urban Fantasy”, but its mix of mythology and Lovecraftian horror, eerie carnival rides and magic, fantastical elements and the mundane concerns of day-to-day existence–coupled with a historical look at the city of San Francisco–make this a hard-to-define entry into the realm of modern genre literature. The fact that it is a tightly-woven, mysterious story that will have you trying to guess two steps ahead of its interesting characters makes it a book that stands out among books carrying a similar label.

I have seen other reviews describing Hang Wire as a mash-up of genre ideas. While arguably an accurate description, I see the term “mash-up” promoting the idea that these disparate elements are forced together rather than the relatively seamless manner with which Adam Christopher accomplishes his storytelling. It is tempting to start a long list of the various elements that are present in Hang Wire, but to do so would truly spoil some of the more interesting revelations of the novel. Suffice it to say that this story has elements that would appeal to fans of urban fantasy, folklore and mythology, mystery and true crime, history and there is even a science fictional aspect or two woven in.

Prior to this experience I had not had the pleasure of reading Adam Christopher’s work, purely from sheer volume of material to read. I have listened to and read numerous interviews with him and he has been on my to-read list for some time. I initially thought to give Hang Wire a pass, based entirely on the fact that there was an advertised serial killer element. I’m not a fan of serial killer stories in any medium. But there was a certain something about Hang Wire that compelled me to ignore my qualms. That too started with a fortune cookie, or rather it was Christopher’s recalling in a recent interview about his own real-life exploding fortune cookie incident–that sparked my curiosity.

I am glad I gave the book a chance. Adam Christopher weaves both a historical look at parts of San Francisco’s history and a road-trip history of parts of America, in flash-backs, or “interludes”, that feature the two most mysterious characters in the novel. Those interludes serve to increase the tension on the present day storyline and provide the reader with tantalizing revelations about those characters. Adam Christopher gives good story. Once I started reading there was little that could distract me. Those necessary interruptions–like work, sleep, eating–only served to make me more anxious to get back to the story.

The novel is very tightly written for most of its 384 pages. I must admit that I found the climactic events to be somewhat loose and there was a degree of ‘rushed’ feeling as plot lines converged. I was pleased with the denouement and satisfied with the overall story, which was very entertaining.

If this novel exemplifies Adam Christopher’s work, I am destined to have more great reading ahead of me as I partake of his earlier novels. Adam Christopher’s next novel, The Burning Dark, is a science fiction story due out from Tor Books in March 2014. Based on the strength of Hang Wire, I will be picking that one up on release day.

Kudos to Adam Christopher for taking several imaginative ideas, some of which on their own could make for page-turning genre novels, and bringing them together to tell a story that intrigues, mystifies and ultimately satisfies.

Adam Christopher is a New Zealand author who now makes his home in Great Britain. His two novels, Empire State and Age Atomic (also published by Angry Robot Books), are parallel-universe, Prohibition-era super-hero fantasies. Adam Christopher is active on social media, particularly Twitter, which is where I first interacted with him and became interested in his fiction. His wikipedia entry reports that he is a lifelong Doctor Who who edited an award-winning Journal for the New Zealand Doctor Who fan club.

Will Staehle is a designer and illustrator who calls Seattle his home (Congrats, Will, on your team bringing home its first Superbowl Championship!). Staehle has designed the covers for Christopher’s previous novels and his work is first-rate fun. You can check out more of his excellent cover design work on his personal website. (Photo Credit)