Superb writing! Great premier of a novelist with a great deal to offer. Looking forward to more from her.

This book was not quite what I expected it to be. Anything called "A Novel in Clues' should be a bunch of riddles and clues to unravel. Based on the title character being a mathematician, I expected a treasure hunt based on math related problems. I thought Hazel would find a puzzle, solve it, and that would lead to the next clue, etc, etc, until we got to the equation safely hidden away. Nope! Instead, this was a book about inter-family politics, mental illness, and a female version of Mr. Slugworth (from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) lurking around. Frequently clues are solved without the reader even being involved in the solution. But while I didn't get the book I thought I was getting, it was still a very enjoyable read with a few nice surprises.

This was enjoyable from beginning to end. The narrative is a pleasant balance of mystery, intrigue, and interpersonal dynamics between main and supporting characters. I wasn’t successful at predicting the twists and turns which always makes the reading experience more fun. I’m excited to read more by this author! I’d recommend this story to anyone fascinated by the beauty and intrigue of mathematics in the context of a mystery/thriller.

This book is marketed as a mystery but the only mystery to me was why this book was published. There were too many story lines and none of them were flushed out. There was a multitude of characters, but most of them had no importance to the story and were simply mentioned in passing only to reappear chapters later which left me thinks now who is that again. Overall, I did not like this story but I can see why some people would.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Touchstone, and Nova Jacobs for the opportunity to read and review her debut novel - I loved it! What's not to love - mathematical and literary mysteries and clues and quirky characters.

Hazel is the owner of a small bookstore in Seattle. She's drowning in debt, living secretly in the back of the store, unsure of her boyfriend's affection. When she receives word that her adopted grandfather has committed suicide, she leaves for LA and her complicated math genius family. She then receives a letter that her grandfather wrote to her before his death, entrusting her with finding his final equation - one that he alludes others are looking for with dire consequences. He tells her to trust no one. But she feels out of her element in finding and understanding the clues and the formula. This hunt forces her back into her fractured family and all their issues.

I couldn't put this book down and really loved the ending! Amazing debut novel - can't wait to read more from this author!

It is interesting how the theme of mathematics is playing a role in books and television series lately. I found the concept of the book to be intriguing. This novel did not disappoint me.
The story follows the family of a famous mathematician, Isaac Severy, who appears to have committed suicide. Isaac has left a letter to his adopted granddaughter, Hazel. He requested she destroy all of his current work except the equation. He wants the equation, once found, delivered to a colleague. It’s never easy if it were, there’d be no story.
The chase is on. Will Hazel find it before the bad guys? Will she get it to the right person? Find out in this well written debut novel.

Mathematical genius and patriarch of the dysfunctional Severy family has died of apparent suicide by electrocution. The Severy family of geniuses is undone by Isaac Severy's sudden death. Adopted granddaughter Hazel receives a letter, dated before his death, asking her to perform a daunting task. Isaac entrusts her with a cryptic assignment. She is asked to safely deliver his final equation to a trusted colleague whose favorite pattern is herringbone. Is this note the disjoint ruminations of an unstable genius? Should Hazel disregard the request?

Hazel Severy feels a debt of obligation to Isaac. Isaac and wife, Lily rescued Hazel and brother Gregory from abusive foster parent, Tom who is currently jailed in L.A. She always felt uncomfortable in the company of the Severy math geniuses. She was non-mathematical. Why would Isaac trust her with this job? This is what Isaac's letter states.....I am being followed....work in room 137 must be destroyed and hard drives reformatted....do not visit the house past October....three will die...me first....tell no one. Hazel must find and unravel hidden "clues" to locate the equation secreted in a surprising place! Hazel is not the only one searching for the equation. Family members, business associates, even virtual strangers want to aid or block Hazel's efforts.

"The Last Equation of Isaac Severy: A Novel in Clues" by Nova Jacobs is an excellent debut novel. That said, this reader felt that there were too many Severy family members to follow. The novel might have been enhanced by more in-depth discussion using less characters. Nova Jacobs has provided a fun read. I look forward to her future writing.

Thank you Touchstone and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "The Last Equation of Isaac Severy".

Made it 1/3 of the way through the book and I just don't care anymore. Which is really too bad, because the premise of the book was really interesting to me.

Complex and completely different from other thrillers, the Last Equation of Isaac Severy is highly recommended.

Isaac Severy is a famous mathematician. Now retired, he is still working on his last equation: how to use chaos theory to predict Los Angeles traffic. As the book opens, Isaac is preparing a breakfast for two in his home. The next day Isaac is found dead in his hot tub along with a set of live Christmas lights with a single bulb crushed. His death is accepted as a suicide. At his funeral, his adopted granddaughter, Hazel, opens a cryptic note from Isaac mailed the day before his death. Isaac tells Hazel that he is only the first of three people soon to die. He commands her to destroy the work he left behind in a mysterious room 137 and deliver his last equation to the elusive John Raspanti. Hazel is advised to not involve other members of the family or the police. Isaac states that he selected Hazel for these tasks because she would be the least likely to be suspected. He says that he cannot do the tasks himself because he is being followed.
Isaac’s note leads Hazel on a merry chase through literature, mathematics and physics. Hazel works with various family members while trying to follow the instructions in Isaac’s puzzling letter. Neither Hazel nor the reader can identify who is a hero and who is a villain. This book has a multitude of side plots. What is the elusive and wealthy P. Boone Lyons after? Why is a physicist who has been dead for sixty years attempting to contact Hazel?

Ostensibly a thriller, the family dynamics are almost more intriguing. Phillip is a tenured physics professor at CalTech. However, his opportunities of winning a coveted Nobel prize are slipping away and his best years are behind him. Tom is released from a long prison term. Why was he in prison and how does that relate to Hazel and Gregory’s fear of his release?

Since the family relationships are rather confusing, I created this handy family tree.
[see my blog at dianereviewsbooks.com/last-equation-of-isaac-severy for the tree. It doesn't copy well to NetGalley.]

Since Isaac’s work is with chaos theory, it follows that the reader truly doesn’t understand what is going on until almost the end of the book. It is reminiscent of the movie Chinatown, where there are a multitude of plot layers that don’t cohere until the end. I like that uncertainty but some may not. However, the resolution definitely is worth the wait.

The Last Equation of Isaac Severy is a brilliant tour-de-force from a debut author. It is highly recommended to thriller readers. It would also appeal to fans of quirky family dynamics like those in movie, The Royal Tenenbaums. 5 stars!

Thanks to the publisher, Touchstone Books, and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

3.5 stars. I am the polar opposite of a mathematical person, but when I read the premise of this book, I was sucked in and knew I had to read it! Mystery, family drama and secrets, clues for the character (and for us as readers), wittiness with a side of bookstore owner?! Yes please! I enjoyed this book, was sucked into the world and was rapidly flipping pages to find out the ending. And Book of the Month?! Yay!

3.5 stars for me. This was quite enjoyable. It felt different, which I appreciated, and the author surprised me a few times, which I also appreciated! The characters seemed real and I think telling the story from a few different viewpoints worked well here. The overall concept, with enough math to make things interesting but not so much that I was overwhelmed, was an intriguing one and I definitely was pulled through the book because I needed to know what would happen next. I have some issues with a couple of ways things worked out a little late in the book, and our main character does a few very naive things, but, all in all, I found it an enjoyable read. I think this will do well at my library.

Who knew that I would find so much joy in a novel with a backdrop of science, string theory, physics, and all things mathematical?

When Isaac Severy is found dead of an apparent suicide, his adoptive granddaughter Hazel receives a coded letter containing his wishes regarding a secret equation he was working on prior to his death. Is it merely a solution to ever-increasing traffic problems, or is it an equation of prediction that will turn the scientific world upside down?

This is a fun read, and not at all what I expected. It has quirk and wit, but it was also a tad heavier than I imagined with lots of murder, family drama, and secrets of the past which I am totally all for. The bookish angle of Hazel owning a bookstore appealed to me, but that is unfortunately only a minor element to the story. Somehow I went into this thinking I was about to delve into a literary book-driven mystery. I guess my brain ran away with the fact that the protagonist is a bookstore owner and blew it up larger than it is, but the elements of mathematics and physics give this story an intriguing twist.

This is a good one. Be sure to check it out.

Just right for my mood, a nice cerebral mystery. Apparently it’s difficult to impossible nowadays to describe a new novel without referencing another, however tangentially connected, but really this one is very much its own book. Seriously, yes the protagonist owns a bookstore, but it’s a relatively inconsequential detail in the grand scheme of things. It also doesn’t need to describe itself as a novel of clues, a lot (most?all?) of mysteries have clues. Going by the description I even thought maybe this was going to be something to do with actual math clues sprinkled throughout the text, but no, not at all, although math is definitely a cornerstone of this production. The eponymous Mr. Severy is the bonafide genius of the family, though the rest aren’t too far behind. He dies under suspicious circumstances leaving a mysterious letter to his adopted (nonmathematical minded) granddaughter setting her off on a pursuit to find (and solve) a treasure map (quite literally). Sounds like a quest story, doesn’t it? But really it’s a drama as much if not more so, being highly intelligent doesn’t make for a happy family and, proving Tolstoy correct yet again, Severys are unhappy in their very own particular ways, frustration, disappointment, resentment and all that. They really are a fascinating clan, from a psychological perspective, and the author did a great job creating such a variety of realistically complex individuals, swarming around their microcosms like a version of chaos theory, appropriately so for this book. Plus it’s a great premise, predictive mathematics, fate formulas essentially. Thing is at times it seemed like the author has taken her story simply too far, tried to be too clever and ended up overwhelming the narrative with serpentine twists and turns, although one of the main reveals was actually too easy to predict earlier than optimal in the book, which is quite ironic given the central theme of predictability. But that’s a reasonably minor detractor. Another one of those is the elaborately protracted denouement (about a fifth of the book), somewhat over explained (I’m writing this off as a debut quirk). So maybe not perfect, but very good and such an enjoyable read. And really too clever is always infinitely preferable to the alternative. Thanks Netgalley.

This book captivated my attention immediately and I was intrigued by the mystery. I loved the idea of a mathematician creating such a powerful predictive equation! Given how excited I was about the plot and that I thought Nova Jacobs did a great job with the writing, I was surprised that I still found my attention wandering a bit and that I didn't care about the characters more. Still, I found this an enjoyable read and one that many readers will enjoy.

I wasn't really sure what to expect when I read the description. A book store owner? A mathematician? Somehow, it all comes together in this fabulous mystery/thriller. One I got a 1/3 of the way through I could not put it down.

The Last Equation of Isaac Severy follows the brilliant Severy family after their patriarch, Isaac, allegedly commits suicide. Isaac was a brilliant mathematician and he posthumously sends Hazel, his adopted granddaughter, a request: find his final equation and give it to a trusted colleague before it falls into the wrong hands. Isaac doesn’t make it easy for Hazel, however; he leaves her a series of clues to guide her search. Hazel isn’t the only person hunting for the equation; a mysterious organization is also searching for it. In the midst of the quest to find the hidden equation, the author delves into the Severy’s, revealing troubling family secrets. The various mysteries revealed in this book will keep the reader glued to the page. Recommended for most public libraries and a great pick for fans of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore and The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry.

Review written for Ingram Premier Pick Review