I tried, it had some hilarious bits, and some thought provoking bits. And it had some really off school boy, rape stuff bits that really detracted from the good stuff. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I've finished this a few days ago, and I've been milling over what to say about it, and particularly how to rate it. Regardless, thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

It's really on the nose with its political commentary, and I found some of that commentary pretty objectionable, particularly surrounding the Muslim characters. I also found the frequent threat of rape surrounding the female lead to be a bit much and in poor taste. Shelly in general felt like a category 5 "men writing women" situation. If it was meant a parody, it did not work as one for me, particularly considering how few female characters there were in general. A far lesser sin, but Tom (or possibly Katz) seems to misunderstand how cosmic inflation works. To my knowledge, it started after the Big Bang, not before it. If I'm wrong about that, sorry Tom or Katz, my bad.

I wasn't bored though, it must be said, which is quite impressive, considering that Tom takes many detours to talk philosophy. That philosophy was interesting to read about; I hadn't heard of much of it before (aside from the broad strokes of the rationalist stuff and some of the quantum mechanics). I'm still not entirely sure how much of it was real, but it didn't bother me. I was a little worried that this book was going to be wildly rationalist, but it wasn't, so win! It was remarkably easier than I thought it would be to follow, considering the time travel and quantum fuckery that happens. The only part that I don't understand at all is the final paragraphs or so, which, considering how this book reads, is pretty good. It is also funny in many places where it tries to be funny, so well done there.

I don't regret the time I spent with this book, but I also find its treatment of Islam to be wildly irresponsible at best, and Shelly's character to be tired and cliche. It'll be a three-star from me, but I am curious to see if Katz writes anything in the future.

Wilder Crick is dead—thank God, and also, maybe, oh no? That’s the chaotic, razor-sharp energy Jonathan Katz injects into Cleave the Sparrow, a genre-defying fever dream of a novel that reads like Hunter S. Thompson freebasing Kierkegaard during a political campaign meltdown.

At its surface, the book follows Tom—Crick’s awkward, bewildered apprentice—and Shelly, the hyper-competent campaign manager with the empathy of a guillotine, as they attempt to honor Crick’s dying wish: uncovering the “true, hidden nature of reality.” Whatever that means. What begins as a surreal scavenger hunt quickly spirals into a gonzo exploration of ego death, apocalyptic politics, quantum uncertainty, and the kind of philosophical whiplash that leaves you wondering whether the book’s next twist will be a nuclear explosion or a sudden monologue on the illusion of free will.

And somehow, it all works.

Katz is a literary bomb-thrower, gleefully mixing satire, existential dread, and absurdist comedy in a narrative that’s part dystopian political thriller, part metaphysical head-trip. The pacing is relentless, the tone whiplashes from hilarious to horrifying, and the prose reads like poetry written during a panic attack. It’s a book that demands your full attention and pays it back in wild revelations and deep, soul-punching questions.

This isn’t a comfort read. It’s a challenge, a dare—equal parts chaotic road trip and philosophical descent into madness. But for readers willing to lean in and let go, Cleave the Sparrow is one of the most original, thought-provoking, and gloriously unhinged novels in recent memory.