The Laws of Invisible Things

by Frank Huyler

When newly qualified doctor Michael Grant makes an error, and a young girl dies unexpectedly in his care, a mysterious chain of events leads him to believe that he may have discovered an entirely new disease. Unable to convince his colleagues, he sets out to gather evidence but is quite unprepared for the direction his quest will take him-into the wilderness of disease, religion and mystery-a journey that will lead him to question not only his belief in the order of the world, but his own place and purpose within it. With real suspense and subtlety, Frank Huyler's first novel is written with the spare precision and grace of his much praised collection about his medical experiences, The Blood of Strangers .

Genres: Fiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 2004

About the author

Born 1964, in Berkeley, CA; married, 2000. Education: Williams College, B.A., 1986; University of North Carolina School of Medicine, M.D., M.P.H. Addresses: Home: Albuquerque, NM.

CAREER:

Emergency medicine physician, educator, and author. University of New Mexico Hospitals, Albuquerque, resident, 1993- 96; physician, 1996--; University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, assistant professor of emergency medicine.

Reviews

[Betsy Robinson]

This is my fourth Frank Huyler book after reading his upcoming (Oct. 6th) The Red Dress and being so excited I wanted to read everything he's written. It is hard to believe The Law of Invisible Things was his debut novel. The writing is so solid, understated, and controlled that it feels like a mature writer's.

The narrative is straight-forward, building tension without ever showing off. There is a medical mystery and the library copy I have categorizes it as "Suspense," but ultimately, because of the way the story ends, it is more of a slice of life. It builds to incredible drama, but then goes off-road, and I liked that. Not what I expected.

In a couple of his later books, the endings come to more conclusive areas about connection, but this one portrays life in a way I recognize: we all just do the best we can; bad things happen; you can't control them; and we go on.

[Christine]

The book just ended. Thought for sure some chapters must be missing.

[Amy]

I enjoyed the writing style, but felt like the story was disordered - is it a medical mystery? a romance? a treatise on spirituality? I like a book to tie up its loose ends, and this one left a huge hanging strand.

[Sarah]

This book was written by a medical doctor/poet. The resulting book is a novel about a medical mystery--tied into questions about death and life, purpose and meaning, and a touch of religion--written with the feeling of a poem. I felt like each chapter ended with a sigh.

The plot concept could easily have been made into a dynamic, high-action, suspenseful book, but this quieter, reflective book was an interesting approach.

[Madeleine Bell]

Can anyone explain the ending of this book? Please comment on this post if you can!

I really enjoyed the story— while slow in certain points, I was hooked on the medical mystery and eager to understand its origins. Nora and Michael’s relationship was strange yet raw, the family dynamics very interesting and the writing beautifully crafted. My poor rating is fully concentrated in the fact that it seems this book just ends… no solution, almost like it’s missing chapters? What did I miss?

[Serena]

Interesting story, kept me reading. Didn't like the ending so much, kinda left you wondering what really happened.

[Debra Morris]

A really unusual and thought-provoking work. Very poetic!

[Mikki]

A riveting read. The ending leaves things hanging a bit, but I guess that so one can make of it what one will. I wanted a sequel, but there doesn't appear to be one. Oh well...

[Micah]

Many reviewers seem upset by the ending. If anything, I was surprised the book ended with as much closure as it did. Michael has purpose now. That’s as happy and tidy an ending as I could have expected. I get the impression that a nice clean resolution to the medical mystery part of the plot would have betrayed the tone of the book.

The plot grabbed my attention quickly and held tight until the end. There were plenty of surprises, without cliche ‘twists’. There was ample foreshadowing without being overly obvious. Plot lines overlapped carefully. The characters felt real and flawed and relatable. The book was weird and dark and angry and depressed and I didn’t want to put it down.

Side note: The chapter leading into Jonas’ death was maybe the best written word representation of delirium I’ve seen.

[Susan Z. Miller]

I enjoyed reading this. The story is original and the prose are lovely. My only criticism is that, at times, it is very heavy on the medical language. Contextually, I get why this makes sense, as both the author and the main character are doctors, but at times it seemed superfluous and brought me "out" of the story.

[Laquitta]

I enjoyed the story, but the end was not what I was expecting.

[Jamie Fullerton]

Odd book. Not sure about this one at all. And it ended so abruptly.

[Ashton Catracchia]

Very disappointed with the ending. A lot of things were unanswered.

[Joanne]

I really like good medical suspense!

[Mckinley]

Moved along. Just didn't really get into story.

[Kayce B]

Started out strong, really drew me into the mystery, but then just floundered out at the end. Rather disappointing.