Nancy believes the company she works for, D-CIDE, is intentionally using its most popular untraceable poison for things far worse than pesticide. Her suspicions are piqued after a shipment of the poison (aptly titled XXX) is picked up without prior knowledge. Knowing what XXX is capable of, she decides to follow the truck but loses it amidst the twists and turns of the city. With the missing shipment weighing heavily on her fragile mind, Nancy decides to take action, and is thrust into a world of government conspiracies, brainwashing, snake-handling churches, and a hell of a lot more that makes falling down the rabbit hole seem like a tiny spill.
The term “glossolalia” refers to one who babbles random syllables that sound like words (unlike “xenoglossia,” which is when the speaker can fluently communicate in a language they claim to not know — something often seen depicted with the Pentecostal church), and given it’s also the name of the novel, it’s important to keep that definition in mind.
The amount of story jam-packed within the pages of GLOSSOLALIA is enough to make readers question their own sanity along with Nancy. The prose, though comprehensible, is scattered — much like the protagonist’s thoughts. She’s a drug-fuelled, paranoid schizophrenic of sorts, and her oddities are often subtly (and not-so-subtly) reflected in the way she tells her story: one minute she wants to save the world, the next she’s too paranoid to answer her phone. The unreliable narrator motif adds to the overall success of the novel, and as far out as the plot ventures, the actions of herself and those around her never feel out of place. To say more would give away important clues in Nancy’s journey.
GLOSSOLALIA is an off-kilter mystery with a challenging storyline that ultimately leaves the door wide open for further exploits.
~IndieReader