A Whole Lot

This debut novel by Wind takes the form of the autobiography of a young savant, Abel Velasco. Abel is a mathematical genius with amazing memory skills and acute synesthesia who also suffers from some type of seizure and has social skills reminiscent of someone with Asperger’s. In 1982, he is living with his horrid aunt, “Pigpie,” in North Brunswick, N.J. Like a true biography, there isn’t a single unifying story arc that ties the whole together, other than that Abel lives through and participates in all of the events recounted. The longest plotline involves Abel’s inadvertent discovery in an abandoned mansion of a Bible with a handwritten numerical code and quest to decipher the seemingly random string of numbers. He pursues this search when he is allowed to study at Princeton and in an unforeseen journey that takes him to Berkeley. Wind has created a fascinating character in Abel Velasco with a whirlwind life to match, but other elements, like the injury of his friend Russell Ghety and his fascination with an older woman arise but aren’t followed to a conclusion. (BookLife)