The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton

A hilarious, fast-paced tale about a club of anarchists in turn-of-the-century London. Gabriel Syme is invited by a fellow poet to attend a secret meeting of anarchists, whose leaders are named for the days of the week, and all of whom are sworn to destroy the world. When Syme is unexpectedly elected to fill a vacancy on the anarchists' Central Council, the plot takes the first of many surprising twists and turns.

I've meant to read this for some time but, since I find Chesterton's novels the most difficult of his writing, I needed a push. That came in the form of upcoming participation in an SSFaudio podcast episode.

This grabbed me by the throat and I read it with delight at the humor, intelligence, plot twists, and adventure. At the end I was thrown for a loop and could only agree with Goodreads reviewer Dan Schwent who said, "The Man Who Was Thursday reads like P.G. Wodehouse writing from a Phillip K. Dick plot while on a Nyquil bender."

We were warned. The subtitle does say "A Nightmare."

And yet, reader, I loved it.

I'm really looking forward to having this particular bender unraveled by conversation at SFFaudio.