With identity theft on the rise — up 22 percent in 2008 — and the media (myself included) not letting you forget it, stolen Social Security numbers, credit cards and bank account information are on everyone’s mind. This collective paranoia does not exclude Minnesota author Charles Baxter, whose latest novel, "The Soul Thief," explores one man’s struggle to reconcile the loss of his identity and discover the ‘thief’ responsible.

"The Soul Thief," released in paperback ($14) by Vintage Books this month, opens in 1970s Buffalo, New York, where its protagonist, Nathaniel Mason, is in graduate school. Nathaniel is caught in a social tangle involving two women: He is dating a fellow student, Theresa, while carrying on a futile affair with a lesbian sculptor, Jamie. And while these relationships alone create enough trouble for Nathaniel, a suspicious and falsely intellectual fast-talker, Jerome Coolberg, seems set on adopting Nathaniel’s life as his own.

Baxter, the author of eight books including acclaimed best-seller "The Feast of Love," is a true craftsman, weaving together curious recurring imagery and themes throughout "The Soul Thief" so that the novel grows in complexity — and raises more questions — right up to the final chapter. At 210 pages, it’s a difficult book to put down, as Baxter seems to keep the answers to Nathaniel’s past elusive, just out of reach.

Much of the novel’s complexity stems from Baxter’s narrative point of view; while the "The Soul Thief" begins as a third-person account of Nathaniel in graduate school, the second half flashes forward to the ‘00s, in which Nathaniel, from the first-person perspective, relates his life as a middle-aged husband and father. There is, of course, a reason for this move — explained by one of many plot twists — a revelation that alters the entire story and invites a second read.

Much of the latter half of "The Soul Thief" takes place in Los Angeles, a setting that furthers the theme of lost identity. Baxter, best known as an author of the Midwest, seems contemptuous of LA — or at least his protagonist does — portraying the city as a mass of faceless, rude humanity: “If you are not a native, the message is, Welcome to L.A. You’re in for it.”

Although Baxter is a highly skilled writer, a talent evident in "The Soul Thief," the novel’s storyline — even its title — is reminiscent of a mass-market psychological thriller. As a Guggenheim Fellow and National Book Award Finalist, Baxter’s prose is far too good for the drugstore shelves. "The Soul Thief," a case in point, feels like an episode of CSI directed by Akira Kurosawa — intriguing, but confused.

Reach A&E editor Joe Darda at arts@dailyuw.com.