Comparisons to authors such as Jorge Luis Borges or Gabriel García Márquez don’t do scribes any favors. Not only does it pigeonhole writers into a particular genre, but let’s face it, they’ll never live up to the two modern masters. (Just ask Kobe Bryant how smooth those “Next Jordan” appellations went down.)

With Agualusa, however, it’s inevitable, given just how much he consciously follows in their footsteps. The Angolan author’s latest to be translated from his native Portuguese is narrated by a gecko, albeit one who was, in a past life, human. Eulálio the lizard tells the story of Félix Ventura, who plies his trade as a “creator of pasts,” forging genealogy records for well-paying customers. Most of his clients are public officials or other fame-ish folks who want to beef up their bloodlines, but a photojournalist shows up one day offering big bucks for a new past. Félix dubs him José Buchmann and sends him off, but when Buchmann begins investigating his fake past, it turns up more real than expected.

So here we go: Marquéz-esque in its magical realism and Borgescent in its labyrinthine take on identity and its twisting philosophical knots, Chameleons lives up to neither. But, Agualusa’s take on the mutability of personas does make for a fun, albeit long-winded, mystery. We probably could have done without the talking lizard, and Agualusa loses his footing toward the end, unable to sustain the tension throughout. But hey, compared to books not written by modern giants, it’s not half-bad.