from Publisher's Weekly (7/21/03):
Rock Breaks Scissors Cut by David J. Schow
A scientific experiment to link participants through dreams
gives way to a sensitive exploration of the emotional barriers
that keep people apart in Schow's first novel in more than
a decade. Events center on the sleep research laboratory of
Dr. Helen Gold, who has carefully culled her pool of applicants
for three promising guinea pigs: Melinda, a nondescript bookstore
clerk; Jovana, a sleekly-sculpted fashion model; and Gilbert,
a jaded pop journalist. They seem to have nothing in common,
other than their ability to dream in similar brainwave patterns
that produce a unified pattern of "dream sounds." But
a moment of unexpected intimacy between Melinda and Gilbert
exposes a daisy-chain of desire that binds all three and sets
off uncanny experiences outside the clinic, including simultaneously-experienced
episodes of physical and psychological malaise and dovetailing
identity crises. The far-fetched explanation for these puzzling
expressions of interconnectedness leads back to Dr. Gold's
bizarre objectives, which requires some prolonged exposition
to ferret out. However, this in no way detracts from Schow's
sharply-etched studies of three very different modern characters
whose personalities have been tempered by thwarted emotional
needs and whose quest for fulfillment opens doorways to mysterious
possibilities. Their vulnerability softens the cynicism of
his usual hard-boiled approach, and the result is a moving,
offbeat dark fantasy that rises above the usual genre fare
(Aug. 4)
(Schow's last novel, The Shaft [1990], was published in the
U.K. but never released in the U.S.)
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