Everyone else will tell you this book is influenced by Kafka, but between you and me, this book is a lot like that old show, The Prisoner.  The book’s unconventional style can be difficult to follow at times, but there’s no doubt in my mind that Ball intended it that way.  Ball creates a surreal and paranoid universe (that feels contrived at times), where it is impossible to know who is trustworthy (including the narrator, James Sim).  The basic premise is that Sim has witnessed a murder and is abducted to an asylum for liars, where everyone takes the name of someone else at the asylum.  Sim doesn’t know why he’s there or what will happen on the seventh day.  If you like The Prisoner, you’ll probably enjoy this.  You should watch The Prisoner anyways, that show is crazy weird good.