Title: The Last Equation of Isaac Severy
Author: Nova Jacobs
Publication Date: March 6, 2018
Pages: 337
Publisher: Touchstone
Date Started: May 26, 2018
Date Finished: May 27, 2018
Format: Hardcover

Being Memorial Day weekend, I had all these exciting plans to work in the yard and barbeque for the three day weekend. Alas, on Friday I came down with a head cold and have been stationary in misery ever since. I decided to use this opportunity to start working through the ominous pile of books that has been steadily growing, that if I’m not careful might completely take over my office. I decided to sit down with one that looked like it would not only be fun, but also easy to read in my dreary state. Hence, I chose The Last Equation of Isaac Severy, which I had acquired through the Book of the Month club a few months back.

This novel focuses on the Severy family, a clan highly saturated with geniuses, with Isaac being the patriarch. He was a mathematician who focused on predicting events through chaos. However, in the opening scene, he dies. While it looks like a suicide, his adoptive granddaughter, Hazel, has reason to believe otherwise. Two days before Isaac tragically passed, he mailed her a cryptic letter, hinting that he has left his world-changing equation to her, and that she must protect it from those who would use it against his wishes. The catch: he doesn’t tell her the equation and instead leaves her clues on how to find it.

I am a sucker for these kinds of books, and have been looking for authors who can present puzzles in not only a fast-paced manner, but also cleverly. This book nearly hit that. Strangely, I actually think this book could have used a little more high-stakes adventure. There was this general lack of urgency in solving the puzzles. I think this is the one time I will ask for more anxiety! And the puzzles themselves, well, they weren’t anything I hadn’t seen before. A fun book, but not life changing.

Overall, 3/5 moose