The Cipher

The Cipher has an interesting premise, but is marred by an unlikable cast of characters and thousands of words of meandering in search of the plot. I found the book boring. I must confess that although I am generally an audiobook enthusiast I do wonder if I might have enjoyed this book more in in a print or ebook edition. Sadly at the time of writing this review the Kindle edition is noted for containing typos and the book is out of print (although a new printing is scheduled for release soon). I found the conversational prose to be difficult to follow in the audio format. I don't want to give the impression that it was the narrator's fault since I usually have no trouble following Bishop and Skippy (Expeditionary Force as read by the incredible RC Bray) or Atticus and Oberon (Iron Druid Chronicles as read by the marvelous Luke Daniels), but rather because I simply found myself alienated from the book by the complete lack of fcks I had to give about these characters. They're nineties grunge losers who drink and fck and blah blah blah GET ON WITH THE SUPERNATURAL HOLE IN YOUR EFFING BASEMENT ALREADY! New characters were introduced, and I didn't care. Overall this book could have been a novella and I might have found it more enjoyable. The only reason I didn't DNF it was because it seems to have such a following in the horror community and I wanted to understand why. I wish I had DNF'd it though, as I think the mystery and allure of The Cipher might have been greater than that of the fun hole itself, once revealed. Snooze fest. Do not recommend. Personally wondering if it went out of print for a reason.

Once a print edition is out, I might, against my better judgement, pick up a copy to try this book again in a different format. Maybe I'll follow it better and understand all the hullabaloo.