The Law of Falling Bodies

Rating:
Summary: A Well-Written Whodunnit
Review: "The Law of Falling Bodies" is a clever, well-written detective story, although the main character isn't really a detective -- he's a graduate student in physics who finds himself caught in a web of murder. His knowledge of physics comes in handy on more than one occasion. I suspect the novel is semi-autobiographical, because the author (Edmund X. DeJesus) has a Ph.D. in physics from a university in New England, similar to the one in the story.

But don't get the idea that this book is a ponderous academic tome. The writing is breezy, amusing, and suspenseful. I read it soon after finishing a massive collection of every Sherlock Holmes story ever written, and "The Law of Falling Bodies" doesn't suffer by comparison.

I especially liked the novel's ability to evoke the life of a shabby grad student in the 1970s. In between solving a murder mystery, our reluctant hero has to worry about money, food, girls, classes, money, food, girls, and starting his VW Beetle on cold New England mornings. This creates many opportunities for humorous one-liners and he doesn't miss a beat: "..."

Maintaining plausibility is always a challenge in a detective story. "The Law of Falling Bodies" plays fair, but it's possible to nitpick. Could a person running for his life really glance at a strange object and instantly memorize a six-digit number written on it? (Well, maybe a grad student in physics could.) Wouldn't the police move quickly to protect someone who was the target of multiple attempts on his life? (Maybe not, if that person was more useful in the open.)

But those are just picky details. If you're in the mood for an intelligent, well-written page-turner with a sense of humor, I highly recommend "The Law of Falling Bodies." I'm looking forward to reading the next novel by Mr. DeJesus.

[end]

Rating:
Summary: A great read, with lots of thrills and spills
Review: Edmund X. DeJesus is a native of Cranston, Rhode Island. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Physics. He has taught at Middle Tennessee State University and Boston University, has worked as a programmer, a researcher, and an editor of BYTE magazine. He is currently a freelance writer, and The Law Of Falling Bodies is his premiere mystery.

Mark Napoli is a physics graduate student at a fictitious university somewhere in New England in the 1970's. The law of the land is that professors rule on high, with graduate students acting as their minions, whom they may or may not enlighten with enough of an education to eventually gain their Ph.D.'s. Of course the system is rife for corruption, and a particularly nasty professor, by the name of Speen (whom we can't help but think of as Professor Spleen) is found murdered, his body apparently tossed from either the roof or a window of the physics building.

Mark is instantly interviewed by the police, and uses his genius to help them solve the crime (beginning with a physics demonstration to Mark's newest crush, Lt. Rachel Trask, of why Spleen had to have been launched out a window):

"'The roof overhangs the building by seven and a half feet,' I began. 'Speen's body, the center of it, was only three and a half feet from the building. The head was even closer, but that may not matter. It is impossible for the body to have fallen inward, toward the building, from the edge of the roof. So any witness who says that's what happened is lying. Speen couldn't have been out on that roof at all.'"

DeJesus launches an intensely funny, poignant, and entertaining first mystery. Mark Napoli is one of the sweetest heroes this reviewer has come across. He is engaging in his eccentric genius, fantasy love life state, and the reader is cheering for him every step of the way. DeJesus' description of academic life with its misfit characters is accurate and hilarious. The Law Of Falling Bodies begs for a sequel from an immensely talented first-time author. This book is a great read, with lots of thrills and spills; a surprise denouement; and a bittersweet conclusion....

Rating:
Summary: Hard to put down
Review: Edmund X. DeJesus's first novel is pretty darn funny, and should keep most people guessing until it's practically over. The inner life of Mark Napoli (a physics grad studenbt with no significant other (outside of his wishful fantasies)) is really dead-on. A few of the jokes will probably go by you if you weren't a physics/math major and aren't familiar with southern New England, but not enough to really matter.
OK, so it's not Moby Dick, but then hey, what is? Recommended if you're looking for something just plain fun to read.

Rating:
Summary: Hard to put down
Review: Edmund X. DeJesus's first novel is pretty darn funny, and should keep most people guessing until it's practically over. The inner life of Mark Napoli (a physics grad studenbt with no significant other (outside of his wishful fantasies)) is really dead-on. A few of the jokes will probably go by you if you weren't a physics/math major and aren't familiar with southern New England, but not enough to really matter.
OK, so it's not Moby Dick, but then hey, what is? Recommended if you're looking for something just plain fun to read.