A man wanders into a circus with no memory of who he is or where he came from. All we know is that he is unable to feel pain. He is numb, and so that becomes his name. NUMB tells the story of this stranger as he goes from being one form of circus side show to another, traveling from the big top in Texas to the big city and media attention of New York. As his star ascends, the mystery of who he is and why he's numb hangs over him, waiting to be resolved.

NUMB is Sean Ferrell's debut novel. There are no high-speed chases, gripping edge-of-the-seat drama and such, but the air of mystery and intrigue carried me page to page and chapter to chapter. As I read, Numb's first-person narration betrayed a sense of numbness, indicating that whatever his mysterious "ability" was, it goes beyond a physical deadness. Something isn't right at a much deeper level. I don't think I'm giving too much away by saying that the story of Numb is the story of a search for answers on more than one level.

As I read, I kept thinking that Numb's voice was familiar. It dawned on me that he reminded me of Meursault from Albert Camus's THE OUTSIDER (L'ETRANGER). There's a matter-of-factness about the way he discusses things. It's perfect for Numb's character.

I found the way Ferrell describes scenes easy to visualize, which is important to me. I hate having to re-read sections because I can't "see" the setting in my mind's eye. He has some interesting characters, none of whom are either wholly good or totally evil. They all have different motives, with perhaps only two being anything close to what Numb might call a friend. This rings true given the world Numb inhabits and the circles in which he finds himself.

NUMB is very well written, but I would suggest it's not for everyone. Given Numb's ability and how he uses it to earn money (think hammer, nails, staple gun, and people willing to pay to have their curiosity satisfied), there are some scenes that might be too much for the squeamish. There are sex scenes, but they aren't extremely sexually explicit. The language is occasionally strong (f-words, s-words, and violations of the Third Commandment). Overall, I give it a PG15+--definitely older YA to Adult.