The Labyrinth Key

by Howard Hendrix

Del Rey, 432 pp, $6.99

Mr. Hendrix’s challenging novel runs the gamut from Kabala to quantum foam universes. It’s like a big helping each of cyberpunk and DaVinci code, with a sprinkling of Umberto Eco. The characters are a little flat, but this is a book about ideas more than anything else. It was a good read, but it’s not going on the “keep” shelf. - Scott Muir