Psalms for the End of the World by Cole Haddon (Headline, £20)
There’s a hint of Philip K Dick in the opening as Robert Jones sits in a suburban California living room in 1962, listening to the news and thinking that none of this is real. Soon, he’s on the run from men claiming to be FBI agents, after him for crimes he knows he did not commit. The nature of reality simmers beneath the surface as the narrative detours into other lives in 18th-century France, medieval Japan, late Maya civilisation and the near future, exploring connections between a teenage terrorist in Australia, a Maya princess in 1532, a David Bowie-inspired rock star, a 21st-century screenwriter and a Japanese astronaut orbiting the Earth. Powerful emotional hooks and vividly detailed scene-setting prove compelling, while questions about the meaning of life, human connection and quantum entanglement make for a fascinating and assured debut novel.
