We came across this mysterious book at a library sale not too long ago. We can't figure out what it is and it irritates me to death. Please comment if you know what it is or have any idea at all! It's got a dark cover, typical trade paperback size. Inside the front cover is a handwritten number- 01639 - and "Hugo Antl.", as far as we can figure. There's no title page of any sort, copyright or title or anything. Inside there's a page number along the top, and then the numbers 1 through 30 going down the side. Then there're cryptic initials of some kind (W.M., S.D., J.D., T., etc.) There there appears to be some sort of dialogue, using a mix of capital and lowercase letters, with no spaces of any sort. Some lines end with question marks or periods, some with nothing. Some include parentheses, some dashes. I figure it's for an English-speaking entity, since there are occasional (See Code) in the middle of the text. Also, at the end there's an index at the end with the headings at the beginning of every section listed with their page numbers. Note that "index" is written in English. Page 52 is earmarked.
Are the letters code, or abbreviations? Is it a court proceeding or a military interrogation?
What do the cryptic numbers on the first page mean? Is it a serial number? The number of books printed? A date?
Who or what or where is Hugo Antl.? "Antl" is followed by a period, so is it an abbreviation? A name with a simple dot added out of habit?
I couldn't find anything on Google about code books, and tried many types of simple coding techniques to decipher the writing, but no luck! Focusing on the number and name(?) written on the inside page, I determined that 01639 is the area for Neath in the U.K., and there's a town called Hugo in Oklahoma that's just southeast of another town called Antlers.
Any ideas?
