The Well Of Lost Plots

Thursday Next definitely needs some downtime. After two rollicking New York Times-bestselling adventures through the Western literary canon, Britain's Prose Resource Operative was literally and literaturally at her wit's end -- not to mention pregnant. So what could be more welcome than a restful stint in the Character Exchange Program down in the hidden depths of the Well of Lost Plots? But a vacation remains elusive. In no time, Thursday discovers that the Well of Lost Plots is a veritable linguistic free-for-all where grammasites run rampant, plot devices are hawked on the black market and lousy books (like the one she has taken up residence in) are scrapped for salvage. To top it off, a murderer is stalking Jurisfiction personnel and nobody is safe, least of all Thursday herself. Once again, it's up to the ever-resourceful gal detective to track down the killer, save her pulp novel-slash-temporary abode from being chucked into the Text Sea, and get back to her "real" life with her body (and memory, if it's not too much to ask) intact. Jasper Fforde has done it again in this absolutely brilliant feat of literary showmanship. When it comes to sheer wit, literate fantasy and effervescent originality, nothing can touch this new Ffordian tour de force.