Mr Penumbra

3 stars

This was our Oct. book club pick. Clay lost his job as a web designer when his employer went out of business. Desperate for work, he takes the late shift in a 24 hour book stored called Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. The store only seems to have a few customers who don’t buy books. Rather, they trade one huge mysterious book for another. One of Clay’s duties is to write down every detail about the transaction with the customers, including what they check out, what they are wearing, and what their behavior and mannerisms are.

Even though he is told by Mr. Penumbra not to look at the books, Clay’s curiosity finally gets the better of him and he opens one of the books to find it full of undecipherable codes. With the help of his friends, Clay sets out on a quest to find out what the books mean and discovers a bigger mystery than he ever imagined.