By Nova Jacobs; reviewed by Jeannette Hartman
equation knows what an individual will do before it happens
“A phony equation. Trompe l’oeil math — get up close enough, and it completely loses its dimension. Beautiful, sure, and real enough to fool most people, but not me.”
Hazel receives a letter from her adoptive grandfather, Isaac Severy, 79, dated the day before he died. His housekeeper had found him his backyard Jacuzzi with a set of plugged in Christmas lights coiled in the water with him, one bulb crushed.
Isaac was a distinguished Caltech professor who had given most of his life to studying chaos theory and nonlinear dynamics
Hazel runs a failing bookstore in Seattle. She’s deeply in debt. She lost her apartment and is now living behind her shop. Every night she leaves the shop, locks up and walks to the bus stop before circling back through the alley behind the store, hiding the fact she’s living there.
She called him weekly> He had seemed remarkably healthy and mentally quick Although 79, he looked no older than 65. Has three children: Philip, a particle physicist and professor of theoretical physics at Caltech; Paige, once a brilliant political statistician; and Tom, who had adopted Hazel and Gregory who were raised by Isaac and his wife Lilly when Tom was sent to prison.
Paige is working on what she calls THE BOOK OF PROBABILITIES, which she estimates will be contained in 565 volumes and not finished in her lifetime.
Tom and wife were junkies, who left the front door unlocked for an assortment of odd characters who dropped in at all hours
“‘Isaac had a way of making you feel immediately . . . ‘ He looked up. ‘Like a part of something great?’ ‘Yeah,’, she said, with an intensity that surprised even her. ‘It was like he had chosen you to join some thrilling spy ring.'”
Map and warning that something would happen Halloween night in the Beachwood Canyon house.
If fiction with a science theme appeals to you, check out AMERICAN ELSEWHERE or STEAL THE STARS.
#novajacobs #thelastequationofisaacsevery. #jeannettehartman #bookreviewsbyjeannette
The Author: Nova Jacobs
Nova Jacobs combines her lifelong love of crime fiction with her fascination with science in her novels. She is the author of THE LAST EQUATION OF ISAAC SEVERY and THE STARS TURNED INSIDE OUT.
The Wall Street Journal listed THE LAST EQUATION OF ISAAC SEVERY as a Best Mystery of 2018. It was a Book of the Month Club selection and nominated for a 2019 Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America.
She holds a master of fine arts degree from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and isa recipient of the Nicholl Fellowship from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Jeremy.
