Lexicon - Softcover

A spellbinding, intelligent read...a freewheeling plot intermeshed with linguistic theory and some genuinely creepy horror set-pieces * Guardian * Dazzling and spectacularly inventive. A novel that jams itself sideways into your brain and stays there. -- Mike Carey, author of The Devil You Know Insanely good. Dark and twisted and sweet and humane all at once. -- Lauren Beukes, author of The Shining Girls and Zoo City Delightfully high-concept...think Noam Chomsky meets Christopher Nolan * Vogue * An extraordinarily fast, funny, cerebral thriller -- Lev Grossman * Time * Wonderfully crafted, dark yet humourous, fast-paced and tragic in turn * National * Best thing I've read in a long, long time... a masterpiece -- Hugh Howey, bestselling author of Wool Sophisticated and laden with subtext... clearly reaffirms Barry's status as a gifted purveyor of suspense * Time Out New York * Barry's smartest dystopia yet * io9.com * Truly original... a crack-paced thriller... smart and tons of fun * Australian * Gripping... a pitch-perfect thriller, a jetpack of a plot that rocketed me from page one to page 400 in a single afternoon -- Cory Doctorow * BoingBoing * Highly entertaining and engrossing... characters that are both complicated and likeable * SciFi Now * Brilliantly realised... strikingly relevant... a resounding success * SFX *

Sticks and stones break bones. Words kill. They recruited Emily from the streets. They said it was because she's good with words. They'll live to regret it. Wil survived something he shouldn't have. But he doesn't remember it. Now they're after him and he doesn't know why. There's a word, they say. It shouldn't have got out. But it did. And they want it back... Find out why in one of the most mind-bending, page-turning, thrilling novels you'll ever read. *Winner of the Aurealis Award for science fiction and GoodReads Choice Awards finalist for best science fiction*