  If you didn't already know, Sock is the first novel by the louder half of the Penn and Teller team. In many ways, the novel is somewhat duller than you what might expect from someone like Penn Jillette.
It's a straightforward murder mystery involving a diver for the NYPD who discovers the body of his ex-girlfriend in the drink. He takes it upon himself to find out who killed her and goes about the usual routes of investigation, experiences the usual mid-point crisis where all seems lost before the final denouement. Really, in terms of plot, this novel is pretty by the numbers. The clincher here is that the book is narrated by Dickie, the protagonist's sock monkey. Okay, just to clarify: yes, a sock monkey. I don't mean a live monkey of some previously unknown sock species. I mean as in a stuffed doll. A toy that the protagonist has had since he was a child. And no, it would not be pertinent to ask the logical questions of "how does the sock monkey see what's going on? Does the diver take him everywhere? " Don't ask such questions. I did and it brought me nothing but grief. You just need to sit back and let the book unfold. As a narrator, Dickie is pretty entertaining, if a bit long-winded.
For an inanimate object, he's very pop culture savvy. Just about every one of his paragraphs end with a line from a song (Random Note: I am SO glad I didn't have to be the one to chase down permissions for these lyrics to be reprinted. ) and he references events as recent as Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. Dickie is the kind of bombastic friend whom you like having drinks with, but by the end of the long evening all you want him to do is shut up. A feeling I often had toward Penn Jillette while watching episodes of "Penn and Teller: Bullshit. " What works in Penn's favor is that his choice of narrator feels like a gimmick. A bizarre tactic that has no reason for being there other than to be bizarre. You go through the entire thing, taking for granted why it is Dickie is the one telling us this story. You just assume it's something born of Penn Jillette's weird mind. Well, that's part of it. But there's more.
Lots more. The fact that he can fake you out like this is a testament to his talents as a magician, I'm sure. Overall, Sock is definitely an interesting read and you'd probably have some fun playing easter egg hunt with all the pop cultural references. And much like that annoying drinking partner, Sock does offer some moments of though-provoking insight. You just might need to drink a little in order to stay focused on reaching those moments. 
