RaveLibrary JournalWriting with the same remarkable attention to detail found in his Pulitzer Prize–winning The Overstory, Powers has created a world and characters that will suck readers in and keep them fixed until the literally bitter end.
Steven Rowley
PositiveLibrary JournalThis latest from Rowley explores the relationships between young and old, grief and acceptance, stagnation and growth—all while challenging the expectations of convention ... Under Patrick’s unorthodox tutelage, the children are exposed to an entirely new way of looking at life, while Patrick, through the agency of his niece and nephew, finally comes to grips with his own grief. Influenced by comic dialogue that would make Neil Simon jealous, the novel’s serious undercurrent of loss gives way, in the end, to a warmth that will make readers smile ... A funny, gentle tale of family and friends, and a salve for the wounds they often cause.
Willy Vlautin
RaveLibrary JournalThe story resonates, with characters we come to feel we know and dialog that is so natural we hear it, not just read it ... This is literary art that will keep readers in their seats until the last page.
Phil Klay
PositiveLibrary Journal... a driving narrative that is hard to put down. While the plot is more than compelling, characterization is the novel’s strength ... Incredibly detailed, based on research and the author’s personal experience, this work rises above the level of generic action-thriller to that of literary art, joining such geopolitical forebears as VassilisVassilikos’s Z and John le Carré’s The Mission Song.
Joshua Henkin
PositiveLibrary JournalHenkin treats the complications of a complicated disease with insight, honesty, and humanity, in a style that is as readable as it is consummately literate.
Elliot Ackerman
RaveLibrary JournalThanks to Ackerman’s unaffected style, this absolutely riveting novel moves rapidly ... Though this is not a mystery proper, there is mystery here. In Agatha Christie fashion, Ackerman gathers his characters for what appears to be the grand finale but saves the true reveal for the very end ... An attention-grabbing, cleverly plotted, character-driven yarn.
Kawai Strong Washburn
PositiveLibrary JournalRecalling Faulkner\'s As I Lay Dying, each character in turn narrates portions of the story, an effective technique that offers a 360-degree perspective while keeping the story\'s secrets until ready to be revealed ... A more than noteworthy first foray into contemporary fiction by Hawaiian native Washburn.
Etgar Keret
RaveLibrary Journal...quirky, funny, touching, immensely readable, pure pleasure—and though most are very short, they are tightly scripted and satisfyingly complete. Originally written in Hebrew, the pieces in this fine collection lose nothing in translation; the wit and humanity of each tale survive intact. Ideal reading for short bursts of time or short attention spans.
Jake Wolff
MixedLibrary JournalThe many flashbacks and multiple time lines, plus the historical asides into prior misguided attempts to find the secret of immortality, create a variegated panorama that risks confusing readers. The story of the teenage Sammy parallels that of the teenage Conrad, and readers will have to stay on their toes to differentiate them. Wolff\'s narrative moves forward to a conclusion that\'s anticlimactic and grounded, disappointingly, in reality; that so many intelligent people sought out the elixir seems implausible. But the story isn\'t really about that. It\'s about growing, developing relationships, and learning to live ... A noteworthy first novel.
Brian Evenson
PositiveLibrary JournalEvenson lures readers into each twisted tale ... As each tale unspools and each surreal world clarifies into a malformed sort of logic, the creeps set firmly in ... Readers of literary horror will not want to miss this one.
Andrew Ridker
PositiveLibrary JournalThough bitterness and interpersonal incompetence seem the dominant forces driving these protagonists, their fundamental love for one another prevails. Ridker\'s debut is at once humorous and poignant; without the author\'s skill and regard for his creations, this story could easily have slumped into the depressed mode of some of William Goldman\'s character-driven narratives of decades ago. Thankfully, it doesn\'t ... For readers drawn to flawed characters and their redemption.
