M-theory

The Chicago transit system is the nexus of two seemingly unconnected murders in Tiffany Cates’s unsettling, satisfying novel M-Theory.

Donovan rides the train every day, taking note of the different people whom he sees on a regular basis. One day, he begins seeing a woman in a blue coat, Emily (called M by those close to her). He can’t get her off of his mind. The two soon start a relationship that may be just a step up from strangers on a train—or, as Donovan hopes, something much more intimate.

But Donovan isn’t the only one M has made an impression on during her daily commute. An artist with a generous spirit and a need for connection, M has befriended a number of passengers and transit workers. She searches for meaning in her life, which is marked by a lonely marriage and uncertainty about the future. When a boy M taught is murdered and M is found dead shortly after, it falls to a detective to put the pieces together and find out how the cases connect.

Alternating between characters, as well as between the past and the present, M-Theory is a thrill ride that is never quite what it seems. Its events and characters converge in surprising, unsettling ways, illuminating a spider’s web of interdependence that leads to violence.

As each character deepens, it becomes obvious that no one is truly good or bad; instead, they are all complex and human. Their motivations and actions ring true based on their pasts and personalities, yet there is still plenty of mystery surrounding what they will do next. The climax brings all of the novel’s threads together in a way that is satisfying, but that still leaves room for interpretation. M-theory is a tension-filled novel that provides no easy answers. - ANGELA MCQUAY (Foreword Reviews, March / April 2021)

Tiffany Cates does an excellent job of providing the reader with just enough information about M-theory's characters and their connections to keep the pages turning. It isn’t until the conclusion, after many pieces have been compiled, that we reach the end of the line and the full picture comes into view. Only then do we see the truth behind the connections the characters share. The primary story that unfolds between Donovan and Emily is romantic and eerie. More than that, it is coming into the world at a time when questioning the stories we have told ourselves feels more important than ever, which is precisely what Donovan fails to do. Donovan says to a detective towards the end of the novel, “You make a living out of isolating moments and saying that’s who someone is.” We all do this at times, often without realizing it. This story is a reminder that it is essential to stop and question how we perceive others. To ask ourselves what is actually true and what we have conveniently chosen to believe–about others and also about ourselves. - Lindy Callahan, "Perceived Realities: A Review of M-theory", (Entropy January 2021)

The mysteries in M-Theory are rooted in the hearts of its characters, in their desperate desires to connect and to do the right thing. Such is Tiffany Cates' gift: even as we see their flaws, we are compelled to hope—that the lovers will find happiness, that the detective will save the boy, that the guilty will be brought to justice. This is an unsettling novel for unsettling times, a riveting [book] that reminds us that tragedy can be but one step away. - Beth Alvarado, Jillian in the Borderlands

Strangers pressed close on a train can't help but see one another while also averting their eyes, especially if they see each other with some regularity, audience to the other's isolated moments. Such is an ideal stage for private fictions to launch: knowingly or unknowingly. M-Theory takes Chicago's train system—mundane and connective, sometimes precise, sometimes tardy, sometimes reactive—and offers up a setting that aptly reveals what intimacies can occur through mere proximity and, in turn, what seductions, corruptions, and innocences these intimacies can further yield. The novel itself is told in isolated moments and through a bevy of characters who, at first, appear to share no common linkage. Just as a city is a network of people, place, and the cultural and constructed environment, so is a novel. The author as head conductor, moves deliberately from track to track, steering the story with patience and command and more than a little willingness to learn to navigate by the stars. This is to say that Cates' language builds a story that is both considered and dynamic, the result of which is a beautiful and surprising novel. Sometimes a novel takes the shape of gossamer thread being untangled. M-Theory is a captivating read that, as the lives of its characters are untangled, flashes brilliant and tender, suspenseful and restive. - Brigitte Lewis, Rubbing Mirrors

"The space between her reality and his imagination was slippery." The life of Donovan James becomes more and more frenetic in M-theory, a smart thriller that reveals what happens when our daily patterns are ruptured. Donovan's life is defined by refrains—teaching, running, riding the train—until he meets a woman who captures his imagination. Curiosity becomes obsession, desire, and then evolves into paranoia. Tiffany Cates tells an inventive and wild story that never relents. - Nick Ripatrazone, Longing for an Absent God