So for the second book of my year-long challenge, I opted for a title which had such a magnificently simple yet salient premise, I couldn’t wait to sink into it.

So here’s the basis of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time: A young boy afflicted with Asperger syndrome investigates the killing of a neighbour’s dog, and the tale is recounted in first-person narrative, as the events are related through the boy’s own words.

Seriously. I can’t imagine anyone not being at least remotely intrigued by that.

What starts off as a delightfully disjointed and quirky whodunit turns into a compelling autobiography, albeit fictional, of someone trying to find stability in an unstable world. Due to his condition, Christopher, the protagonist, finds little safety in the intuitive aspects of human interaction (such as emotions or metaphors). So I often found myself in the ironic position of understanding certain scenes better than Christopher did, crippled by his need for the structured, the quantifiable and the observable. But as the novel evolves into a double-mystery, whatever pity could be felt transforms into genuine compassion and understanding for the boy, as Haddon does a more-than-successful job getting us into Christopher’s head.

My only regret was that I finished the book in three days. I could barely leave it out of my sight, let alone keep it out of my hands. Definitely a candidate for a re-read down the road.

Book: The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time

Author: Mark Hammond

Publisher: Seal Books

Next: The Catcher In The Rye