Curioddity

Comics writer Jenkins seems a little lost in his debut novel, a contemporary story of hidden magic that too often trips itself up in a chaotic whirl of whimsy. Wil Morgan was a dreamer who loved science and believed in magic until he was 10, when his mother—who shared those traits—died in a horrific accident. As an adult, he’s a sad-sack private detective who spends his day in the same routine, going to and from work and barely getting by. When a mysteriously wacky client named Mr. Dinsdale stops by and offers him a job tracking down levity (the opposite of gravity), he discovers streets he’d never heard of, items that defy physics, and an odd thrift shop managed by a gorgeous woman named Lucy who (naturally) falls for Wil in spite of his shyness and lack of social skills. Like that relationship, pretty much every beat of Jenkins’s novel is predictable, from slapstick injuries to the twee ending. The book’s not bad, but Jenkins offers nothing new. (Sept.)