In his debut novel, Andy Brown, founder of conundrum press, shows that simple, subtle prose, a boundless imagination and a sense of humour make for a great read. The Mole Chronicles (Insomniac Press), written in vignettes, charts a sibling relationship involving moles (of all kinds), swimming pools, comic books, secret organizations, political activism, culture jamming, imminent environmental doom, kidnapping, traffic accident reports and a missing mother. The vignette form enhances the subtlety and complexity of the stories, and requires an engaged reader to follow Brown through his narrative to the intersection of 16th and Granville in Vancouver, where all of the stories finally converge and a cleverly interrelated world emerges from the page. This book is not to be missed, even if the photo on the cover isn’t particularly attractive—the image of two sunburned moles is more pleasant when described in the author’s words.