Sadomas: The Seduction, Race

Jackdaw's ambitious novel%E2%80%94the start of a planned series%E2%80%94tells two parallel stories. In one, London teenager Carl tries to become a pick-up artist with some of his friends. In the other, Viennese inspector Alexander Von Purzeus is sent to Kutn%C3%A1 Hora, a city in Bohemia, to solve a crime, and he becomes caught up in a devious case of biological experimentation. The two stories eventually connect and involve the creation of a master race through the use of growth hormone injections. The pseudonymous Jackdaw (k%C3%A1vka in Czech) pays more than a few obvious nods to his literary hero, naming one character Franz Josef, and making another character half-man and half-animal %C3%A0 la Metamorphosis. There's also a Kafka-esque episode involving a train journey. Jackdaw makes some individual episodes engaging, but others are simply confusing, and he tends to draw out%E2%80%94rather than build%E2%80%94suspense. (June)