American Gods, by Neil Gaiman

Ex con Shadow gets caught up in a Civil war between the old Gods of tradition and mythology and the new Gods of technology and innovation. Shell-shocked by the sudden death of his wife, Shadow is taken under the wing of Odin, now known as Mr Wednesday, on a road trip around small-town America. Dealing with Gods fallen low and Gods pushing their way up, Shadow’s dreams become increasingly disturbing. He is targeted by the slick and dangerous opposition and finds threats on all sides. Shadow is the universal traveller, seeking truths internally and externally - a modern day Odysseus, operating at the whim of the Gods, except there is no Penelope waiting for him and good guys are few and far between. In fact his late wife is a rather disturbing presence amid all the mayhem. Seeking and sacrifice are recurrent themes, while mythologies of ancient and modern cultures add breadth and depth to this rather bleak and violent tale, which has recently been made into a television series reputedly breaking records for being out there.