Donohue’s novel, however, rapidly expands beyond the borders of a traditional mystery and proves to be a wonderful and cleverly integrated mix of mystery, fantasy, comedy and literary fiction.

In an important sense, then, Centuries of June is a romp, and though Jack stumbles through it addled with incomprehension, the humor of its suspended animation echoes indeed Beckett’s dark comedy; likewise, the fanciful tales, happy violence, and sensuous, twining language recall the gaiety of Tristram Shandy’s endless diversions, and that earlier novel’s happy, delaying struggle with death’s specter. Unfortunately, Jack seems too slow to keep up with the tales and their allusions. In each interlude between tales he wanders through his house, wondering the same questions about what time it must be, where the cat may have gone, and why, once more, did he find himself brained and dying on the bathroom floor?

It’s become clear with his third novel, “Centuries of June,” that Keith Donohue not only has raced to the forefront of fantasy fiction, but also he may well be its pacesetter.

Read more: http://www.postgazette.com/pg/11177/1155793-148.stm#ixzz1QaT8768B

[P]art ghost story, part psychological mystery and part vaudeville show. Think Scheherazade by way of “Tristram Shandy” by way of “The Sixth Sense.” Or, since restatement and self-correction are essential to this narrative experiment, try “The Decameron” by way of “If on a winter’s night a traveler” by way of “Groundhog Day.” Throw in “A Night at the Opera,” too…