A Fraction of the Whole is a mixed up, crazy story of Jasper and his Dad Martin Dean and their relationship to each other. Jasper believes he really doesn't like (love?) his father, but as the story progresses in odd little ways you find that Jasper loves his Dad fiercely.
Caught up in this story is the story of Martin's infamous brother Terry who was a serial killer and who subsequently died in a prison fire years ago. Martin is haunted by his relationship to Terry and this bleeds into his relationship with his son Jasper who in turn grows up with the infamous ghost of his uncle always looming near at hand.
When a scheme of Martin's turns bad and affects the entire country of Australia, Martin, his wife Caroline and Jasper hightail it for Thailand to hide. There, they unknowingly get mixed up in a murder scheme of their hosts Eddie's doing and the locals don't take kindly to this and set to making the murders right by accosting both Eddie and his guests.
From Thailand they board a litte boat and pay big money to pay for their entry back into Australia. They don't want to go through normal channels because Martin is still a wanted man. But Martin, who has Cancer, has decided that he wants to die on Australian soil. So back to Australia they go.
This book was fun because there was always something going on. I also liked it because Martin considered himself a philosopher and it was always interesting to try and figure out what he was really trying to say. Sometimes I don't think he really said anything, which was the point of the story, and sometimes he said some pretty interesting things. I'd recommend this book for anyone who loves roller coaster rides!
Rating: 8 / 10
ISBN: 9780385521725
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Edition: 1st Edition