What do you think?
Rate this book
Collision Theory
It would be easier for Thomas Mullen to move on from what he’d seen if Sarah stopped calling. It would be even better if she stopped appearing to him, and only him, to remind him of what he was powerless to stop.
But, months later, after Thomas loses his phone and the random woman who recovers it arranges to return it to him, his predicament intensifies. This woman tells him that while she’s had his phone, his mother has called. His mother really needs him to call her back. And who is Sarah, this woman asks Thomas. His mother asked her if she was Sarah. And how could she not have said yes? It seemed to make his mother so happy.
Collision Theory, Adrian Todd Zuniga’s memorably heartfelt and headlong debut novel, unfolds with its own particular velocity. After Thomas was an unexpected witness to a suicide he scrambles to reconcile whether there might have been any way to prevent it. And he wonders whether the only way to undo the impact of an unexpected thing is to do something unexpected in turn. But the phone won’t stop ringing.
Collision Theory’s suddenness, its unexpectedness, its humor, and its humanity make for an unforgettable, surprising, and emotional read.
But, months later, after Thomas loses his phone and the random woman who recovers it arranges to return it to him, his predicament intensifies. This woman tells him that while she’s had his phone, his mother has called. His mother really needs him to call her back. And who is Sarah, this woman asks Thomas. His mother asked her if she was Sarah. And how could she not have said yes? It seemed to make his mother so happy.
Collision Theory, Adrian Todd Zuniga’s memorably heartfelt and headlong debut novel, unfolds with its own particular velocity. After Thomas was an unexpected witness to a suicide he scrambles to reconcile whether there might have been any way to prevent it. And he wonders whether the only way to undo the impact of an unexpected thing is to do something unexpected in turn. But the phone won’t stop ringing.
Collision Theory’s suddenness, its unexpectedness, its humor, and its humanity make for an unforgettable, surprising, and emotional read.
160 pages, Paperback
Published April 17, 2018
2 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 8, 2018
Personally, I love this book.
April 9, 2018
This book reads like a dream, taking you into strange watery depths and startling you with pinpricks of laughter.
It tells the story of a man unravelling; he sees a woman swaying on the edge of a building, and he can’t save her. We meet him again 18 months later, in a cramped apartment, in a sad, quiet, bitten-off life. His best friends comes to stay. He pretends everything is ok. He lies. He equivocates. He tries everything, but nothing stops time from crawling forward, his mother’s cancer from growing, that woman from falling.
It’s a mystery, a ghost story and a love story.
It will break your heart.
It tells the story of a man unravelling; he sees a woman swaying on the edge of a building, and he can’t save her. We meet him again 18 months later, in a cramped apartment, in a sad, quiet, bitten-off life. His best friends comes to stay. He pretends everything is ok. He lies. He equivocates. He tries everything, but nothing stops time from crawling forward, his mother’s cancer from growing, that woman from falling.
It’s a mystery, a ghost story and a love story.
It will break your heart.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 5, 2018
"Call me if you're ever not an asshole."
Unfortunately, for literally every female character in this book -- and, frankly, most of the other male characters who aren't the protagonist -- he never ISN'T a complete asshole. Good god, this book. It reads quick (which, thank god), but that's really its only saving grace. It is trying very, very hard to say... something profound, which at first appears to be about grief and denial, but then pivots hard way too late in a gross sort of gotcha! move to use mental illness as the actual cause of all of the above, and it was at that point that it truly pissed me off. If you want an entire plot based around a guy who should be in therapy treating every unfortunate woman he loops into his horrendous orbit like shit, tricking even more of them into being forced to deal with him via the Internet, all the while ignoring and letting down anyone else (family, friends, potential colleagues) in his vicinity, then the author lumping all this under the convenient umbrella of "Hey, you should be in therapy, probably," then this is the book for you. I can't recall the last time I read about such an infuriatingly obtuse, deeply selfish character. On the other hand, if you, like me, would smack this idiot across the face were you ever confronted with him in real life, you're going to end up wanting to do what his long-suffering best friend/writing partner inevitably does, which is "spike the book on the ground." Men using all manner of mental gymnastics to absolve themselves of any guilt or responsibility for the myopic bullshit they put people around them through is certainly nothing new, but hinging your entire plot on that particular grossness without any elegance, style, nor sense of irony is a bit beyond the pale.
P.S. A half-page of writing should not be allowed to be considered a "chapter," though in this case, that's how you end up cramming 52 of them into barely 200 pages.
Unfortunately, for literally every female character in this book -- and, frankly, most of the other male characters who aren't the protagonist -- he never ISN'T a complete asshole. Good god, this book. It reads quick (which, thank god), but that's really its only saving grace. It is trying very, very hard to say... something profound, which at first appears to be about grief and denial, but then pivots hard way too late in a gross sort of gotcha! move to use mental illness as the actual cause of all of the above, and it was at that point that it truly pissed me off. If you want an entire plot based around a guy who should be in therapy treating every unfortunate woman he loops into his horrendous orbit like shit, tricking even more of them into being forced to deal with him via the Internet, all the while ignoring and letting down anyone else (family, friends, potential colleagues) in his vicinity, then the author lumping all this under the convenient umbrella of "Hey, you should be in therapy, probably," then this is the book for you. I can't recall the last time I read about such an infuriatingly obtuse, deeply selfish character. On the other hand, if you, like me, would smack this idiot across the face were you ever confronted with him in real life, you're going to end up wanting to do what his long-suffering best friend/writing partner inevitably does, which is "spike the book on the ground." Men using all manner of mental gymnastics to absolve themselves of any guilt or responsibility for the myopic bullshit they put people around them through is certainly nothing new, but hinging your entire plot on that particular grossness without any elegance, style, nor sense of irony is a bit beyond the pale.
P.S. A half-page of writing should not be allowed to be considered a "chapter," though in this case, that's how you end up cramming 52 of them into barely 200 pages.
June 9, 2018
While the style of writing in Collison Theory makes it a fast-paced read from start to finish, the content itself is heavy. Thomas Mullen is still recovering from witnessing a woman leap to hear death (told in a fantastically tight two page opening paragraph). He moves away, avoids his best friend and his family but that all changes when his friend shows up and moves in with him. Now, after trying to avoid, well just about everything, Thomas is confronted in multiple directions, from professional (developing a movie script), familial (a dying mother), supernatural (the ghost of the jumper) and accidental (the random woman who finds his lost cell phone). The writing pushes the story along, striking the perfect balance of current action and necessary backstory.
June 16, 2023
Wow. With as many dark, depressive, and melancholic books as I’ve read, very very few of them manage to show the utter unraveling of someone in such a profound and down to earth way. Collision Theory is now one of them, in an exclusive class if I say so myself. The story is very creative and will at first make you think that it’s just going to end up going nowhere but there’s a clear destination and every detail you read has a point to be revealed later. It’s hard for me to describe or review something that I give five stars to, but just trust that this book had an impact on me like few books do.
July 2, 2018
A well told story about the ghosts in our lives and the decisions we make, or could have made better. COLLISION THEORY is an intriguing and intense tale surrounding the pivotal moment in the protagonist's life-witnessing a terrible event, a suicide, which clings to him like a personal tragedy he must come to terms with. Zuniga is a talented and thoughtful writer, and the story kept me guessing throughout. A unique book and a fun read.
June 5, 2018
I don't read much, so I just want to let you know where I'm coming from. It was a fast read, but I prolonged it because I enjoyed following Thomas through this kind of strange and huge moment in his life and I would read one chapter a day, maybe 2. I think there was over 50 chapters. Overall, I would recommend this to anyone.
August 3, 2018
I really enjoyed this book. It surprised me, entertained me, and made me cry.
March 11, 2020
Interesting writing exciting to see what he does next
July 4, 2022
Changed my perspective on what a novel could be.
May 13, 2025
I really enjoyed this book!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews