Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #372806 in Books
• Published on: 1987-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 396 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In Saint's heralded first novel, the tired plot of the film The Invisible Man undergoes a sparkling update. A clash between a scientist and an antinuclear demonstrator at a nuclear energy plant catalyzes an explosion that renders Nick Halloway, a securities analyst, invisible. Realizing that he will become a caged, scrutinized guinea pig if he surrenders to federal intelligence agents, Nick makes a run for his freedom. Saint has hit on a wonderful narrative device: insert one fantastic premise into the life of a Yuppie, but keep the rest of his world functional and, therefore, challenging. Nick displays the distinct sensibilities of a fugitive and a Wall Street smart guy as he invisibly fends for himself in the jungles he knows bestthe East Side of Manhattan and the trader's desk. Unerringly incorporating both humor and poignancy, with dialogue that rings absolutely true and suspense sustained at high pitch throughout, this supple fantasy attends so cleverly to plausible elements that it entertains from beginning to end. 100,000 first printing; $100,000 ad/promo; BOMC and QPBC main selections; film rights to Warner Brothers.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
When a scientific experiment goes awry, a securities analyst suddenly finds himself rendered invisible and wanted by the CIA for "medical study." To avoid becoming a laboratory animal, he goes on the lam, hiding in plain sight among the throngs of New York City, conducting his financial affairs by telephone, and eventually moving in with a woman who belives him to be a ghost. The CIA agents, always just one step behind, are deliciously funny Keystone Kops, ridiculous in their attempts to capture a non-entity. This delightful first novel updates a common childhood fantasy with the excitement of a spy story and a hilarious adult portrayal of life and love under the most peculiar conditions. BOMC and Quality Paperback Book Club main selections. Marcia R. Hoffman, M.L.S., Hoechst Celanese Corp., Somerville, N.J.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

What would life really be like for an invisible man ?,
Edgy, nail-biting, darkly humorous, sexy, paranoid, and brilliant speculation about what life might be like for a man who is accidentally turned invisible.

This is light-years better than any of the many other recent attempts to build stories on this theme, from books and TV to films, and sadly including the distinctly average Chevy Chase comedy which was actually inspired by this book.

The narrator and central character is Nick Halliwell, a 34-year old, single, securities analyst working for a New York firm, who is completely ordinary except perhaps for an overactive sex drive. As part of his campaign to seduce a beautiful New York Times journalist called Anne Epstein, Nick invites her to a demonstration by a company called MicroMagnetics of their new type of magnetic fields.

Unfortunately Anne has cartoonishly stereotypical left-wing/liberal views. She decides that the magnetic fields must be intended for nuclear fusion containment, and tips off a buch of lunatics called "Students for a Fair society" about the event. These idiots decide to stage the other sort of demonstration, which includes cutting off power to the building.

As Nick puts it later, he should have paid more attention to what the students were about to do and what effect this might have on the process which the head of the company describes.

"I knew that someone was about to shut off power to the building ... And this man was telling me that he had some loopy subatomic process roaring away, which sustained itself but whose control system used outside power. It is important to listen to exactly what people are saying ..."

Shortly afterwards Nick is in the toilet when the building is evacuated as someone realises what the students are about to do: perversely ignoring a security guard who asks if anyone is there, he remains in the building and consequently is still inside when the control system has its power cut off, and the equipment blows up, turning everything else inside the building invisible.

Nick is knocked out by the effect. He comes to his senses a few hours later, and realises that he has been turned invisible, by which time government investigators are looking at the building. He calls out to the nearest investigator, expecting them to offer help, and is astonished when the man speaks into his radio and even as he promises medical help, Nick can see that an ambulance and some paramedics are being told to leave. Then the investigators come towards the building with a net. Nick realises that they see him more as an invaluable asset than as another human being, and falling into their hands might be a very bad idea ...

The main plot of the story is about the determined efforts which the investigators, led by the horrible Colonel Jenkins, make to capture Nick, and Nick's equally determined attempts to stay out of their custody. The sub-plot is that invisibility does not affect Nick's considerable libido, and he misses female companionship more than anything else about his situation. And as if it were not difficult enough for an invisible man to find love, any attempt Nick makes to do so is almost certain to offer new opportunities for Colonel Jenkins to catch him.

The dramatic tension in the book is sometimes unbearably strong, and there are some very exciting action sequences: there are also some moments of extreme pathos and some hysterically funny or embarrassing scenes.

Contains a lot of speculation, much of it highly plausible, about how other human beings might react to an invisible person. He is still solid, still needs food, water, sleep & shelter, and has to open doors to pass through them, so he cannot avoid leaving evidence that a person is around. Some people confronted with evidence of Nick's presence assume he's a ghost, or that a burglar has been and gone, but other people who become aware of him react in much more dangerous ways.

"Memoirs of an invisible man" is one of the best novels I have ever read. As I prepare to post this I see that the number of Amazon.com reader reviews is now up to 64 and 62 including mine are five-stars, which must be almost unprecedented. But the book really is that good.

Still a great book
I first read this book almost 20 years ago, and remember at the time recommending it to everyone I knew who loved books. They recently had a re-run of the dreadful film ( movie) of this great book, which prompted me to get my 15 year old daughter to read it - she loved it!

ps anyone ever find out who actually was H.F Saint?

Wonderfully detailed account
Saint's narrative of how an invisible man survives in an urban setting is very credible because of the amount of details provided. Nick is forced to become a true survivalist because government agents are after him with the intent of making him a laboratory curiosity.
One reviewer commented that Nick appeared rather wimpy in his response to Colonel Jenkins' persecution (that is the best word for it) and this is the only aspect of the book that put me off slightly. If I'd been in Nick's place, Jenkins' life would have been much, much harder.