- The Quest for Juice
- The Quest for Truth
- The Quest for Nothing in Particular
Oscar has always lived a life of quiet paranoia, but now everything is changing. Suddenly, the bus is frequently late, his housekeys won't fit in the lock, and someone has taken his juice, which was the one thing holding his life together. He strikes back against the people behind it all, but when he strikes too hard an innocent man ends up dead, and Oscar ends up in jail, diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and facing life in a mental institution. On his journey to mental health and the truth, he has to make hard decisions about medication, trusting his own mind, dating a nurse, and whether that hedgehog can actually talk.
J.D. Turner on Goodreads wrote:Hysterical. Seriously.
★★★★★
Publishers Weekly wrote:The story started so well and just kept picking up the pace. [...] A very original book, with a unique style, and I loved every page.
★★★★★
Mandy White on Goodreads wrote:In this rollicking novel, lovable mental patient Oscar Well finds himself caught in the thorniest of paradoxes: he is paranoid, but it's possible that he really is being followed. Though the story often pushes the limits of suspension of belief, Oscar's stellar sense of humor and wildly unreliable narration keep the novel's roller-coaster momentum going up to the very last page. Part One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, part Alice in Wonderland, the story delves merrily into astute observations of human nature as well as the vivid surrealism of hallucination. Whether Oscar is truly hallucinating, or caught up in a dystopian world, is never entirely clear; the murkiness offers the reader both delight and frustration. Nevertheless, excellent pacing and nonstop action [...] make the story well worth the ride.
Jo-Ann Murphy on Goodreads wrote:This was a real mind-bender. At first, I was both fascinated and disturbed as I found myself drawn into the mind of a paranoid schizophrenic. I experienced all the little nuances of the character's paranoia along with him; he was so convinced it was real that I would have been convinced as well, had his beliefs not been so outlandish.
Finally he gets treatment for his condition, and that's where the story takes a really messed-up turn. I can't really say more without spoilers, but I will just say that in this story, things are not what they seem. Then, when things do appear to be what they seem, they are not. Like I said, it's a real mind-bender. I was thrilled to find an excerpt for the sequel at the end of the book.
★★★★★
Charlie on Goodreads wrote:I had trouble putting down this fast paced book. Is he crazy? Is it paranoia? Maybe he should be paranoid? What is going on?
★★★★★
Constant Reader on Amazon US wrote:This book touches on a very serious matter – and includes some very serious content – yet it is written in an extremely humorous light, almost to the point of being characterized too much and over the top. I’m not schizophrenic, nor do I know anyone who is, so I have no idea if the stream of consciousness that Jackson has used in this book is accurate of schizophrenia, but it is so insane that you can’t help but laugh…continuously.
★★★★★
Lisa K on Amazon US wrote:This is a deeply weird book. I mean that in the best possible way. The journey was not at all what I expected - it was much, much better! In fact, I'm buying the sequel right now. Hope you'll take a chance on this one too, it's a lot of fun.
★★★★★
Terry Doherty on Amazon UK wrote:Loved this whole book.....definitely one to read! I laughed out loud and told all my friends to read it too!
★★★★★
I enjoyed this so much that I bought the two follow up books as soon as I finished reading it. Took a bit of getting used to in the first few chapters but soon I found it near impossible to put down. Highly recommended.
★★★★★