Lexicon A Novel [Paperback]

Stick and stones break bones. Words kill.

They recruited Emily Ruff from the streets. They said it was because she's good with words.

They'll live to regret it.

They said Wil Parke survived something he shouldn't have. But he doesn't remember.

Now they're after him and he doesn't know why.

There's a word, they say. A word that kills.

And they want it back . . . 


“Best thing I've read in a long time . . . a masterpiece.” —Hugh Howey, New York Timesbestselling author of WoolANew York TimesSummer Beach Read
An Amazon Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Pick June 2013
A Best of June iBookstore Pick
ATime Magazine What to Read Now Pick
AHuffington PostBest Book of Summer 2013
ASalon Summer's Best Reads
AHollywood Reporter Buzzy Books for Hollywood's Reading List
APittsburgh Post GazetteBeach Read
AKirkusTen Best Novels for Summer Reading 2013

“A dark, dystopic grabber in which words are treated as weapons, and the villainous types have literary figures’ names. Plath, Yeats, Eliot and Woolf all figure in this ambitious, linguistics-minded work of futurism.”
—Janet Maslin,New York Times
 
Imagine, if you will, a secret group of people called Poets who have the power to control others simply by speaking to them. Barry has, and the result is an extraordinarily fast, funny, cerebral thriller.
—Time Magazine
 
Imagine blending the works of Neal Stephenson with Michael Chabon and the end result would come close to the world envisioned by Barry. The words brilliant and exemplary aren’t adequate enough to convey the amazing craft ofLexicon.
—Associated Press
 
A clever blend of sci-fi and thriller, with touches of romance and humor… persuaded me anewlƒ}