he Facades is one of the most remarkable and talked-about debut novels in recent memory. Set in the once-great Midwestern city of Trude - a treacherous maze of convoluted shopping malls, barricaded libraries and elitist assisted-living homes - Eric Lundgren's novel follows a disconsolate legal clerk named Sven Norberg, who sets out to investigate the disappearance of his wife, the city's most celebrated mezzo-soprano.
To track her down, he must descend into Trude's underworld and confront the menacing and bizarre citizens of his hometown: rebellious librarians, shifty music critics and the minister of an apocalyptic church who has recruited Norberg's teenage son. Written with boundless intelligence and razor-sharp wit, The Facades is a comic and existential mystery that unfolds at the urgent pace of a thriller.
