The Riddles of Epsilon

It happens quite often – I go to the local mall bookstore, get intrigued by some book, resist the insane temptation to buy it immediately; get back after a while when my reading queue is somewhat lighter and find that the book has vanished.I can no longer find “Tokyo soup” and a book about biggest lies… and many other I don’t remember right now.
So it was for this book. I found it intriguing, rich in mysteries, but then it disappeared. After about a month I found it relocated in the teen-books section. My reading queue was still fat and I resisted once more. And the book disappeared again.
At last my wife gave me that book on July 14th (“Do you know what day is today?”, “ehm, well, … “, “Joke’s day! This is for you!”). So, jumping over the full reading queue I started reading it the very same day and completed the reading in just three days… addicting!

The story is set on the fictional island of Lume, where Jess, the twelve years old main character, and her family just relocated. They arrived in the family cottage, an old building full of old rooms.
In the family past some troubles among the parents, and other, rather ordinary, trouble in Jess’ friendship. Back to the origin is going to do good for the family.
When Jess finds a stranger in the private chat-room where she’s talking with her friend, at first she thinks of some hacker, This mysterious being, which then turns out to be a man named Epsilon, will pull Jess, riddle after riddle, into an epic battle between Good and Evil.
For Jess it will be even more dramatic because she can’t tell which part is the Good part. She will meet odd strangers and will see unusual buildings, and will find herself going after the very same story of a boy from the previous century.
I found the story really good. Just in a few points could be somewhat childish, after all this is a teen oriented book. But the light-horror movie sense is preserved throughout the book. Also the atmosphere of the lone island, where the community knows about something you don’t, where customs have been tailored around unnatural things.
I am not sure that there is an explication for all the riddle posed by Epsilon and or for their need. Nonetheless I’m ready to forgive this because they are so well integrated in the story that you don’t feel any artificiality in them.
Very recommended.

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