'Stunningly original . . . Jack O'Connell's vision is spellbinding: by turns hilarious and terrifying.'—James Ellroy A new dangerously seductive drug grips a small depressed town. What appears to be a lucrative product ripples through the community, until murderous rages and babbling insanity take over... A stunningly original nightmare novel about the impact of a new synthetic drug - Lingo - on the depressed New England factory town of Quinsigamond, where it was secretly developed. Besides offering a potent high, Lingo also delivers a shot to the brain cells governing linguistic comprehension and verbal skill. Until murderous rages and babbling insanity take over, this mind-expanding feature makes the drug dangerously seductive to the unusually literate cops, scientists and dope dealers competing to find its distribution source. Written in the cranked up style of Lingo, Box Nine shows a noir vision of a city that has become a virtual war zone between warring multi-ethnic drug cartels. The narrative shifts from one head case to another but never loses sight of Det. Lenore Thomas, an undercover officer addicted to speed, rough sex, heavy metal and the feel of her .357 Magnum. A dark, disturbing book that speaks with a fine fury about the yearning for forbidden knowledge and the language to articulate the mysteries it unlocks...

ジャック・オコンネルが描く本作は、既存のノワールの枠組みを破壊し、狂気と言語の深淵へ読者を誘う悪夢的な傑作です。言語能力を爆発させる新種ドラッグを巡る混沌は、単なる犯罪小説を超えた哲学的な問いを突きつけます。言葉が鋭利な凶器と化し、知性が崩壊へ加速する文体そのものが、薬物に侵された街の拍動を体現しており、その圧倒的なリーダビリティに眩暈を覚えずにはいられません。 スピード中毒の刑事レノアが体現する、暴力への渇望と禁断の知への情熱は、読者の魂を激しく揺さぶります。言葉という魔法がいかに人間を支配し、破滅させるか。暗黒街の抗争と脳科学的な恐怖が交錯する中で、知的な興奮と本能的な戦慄が同居する、唯一無二の文学体験がここにあります。