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“Fresh Kills is. . .a well-written, fine-quality literary novel wrapped in the thriller genre.” - John Sanford, best-selling author of Phantom Prey
“Fresh Kills quickly expands past itself, blows away its limiting genre boundaries, and becomes a story of real psychological complexity and emotional realism.” –Elizabeth Gilbert, bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love
“…tough-minded and beautifully written…” - New Orleans Times-Picayune
“Loehfelm’s debut noir crackles with razor sharp dialog, streets that sing, and citizens lost in memories of fallen heroes.” - Madison County (MS) Herald
“Fresh Kills announces Loehfelm as a serious talent…” - Baltimore Sun
“…blasts out of the gate…a vivid sense of place…” - Philadelphia Inquirer
“impressive subtlety and complexity…perhaps the finest crime fiction debut since Dennis Lehane burst on the scene “ - the Associated Press. Read the full review here.
STARRED REVIEW FROM PUBLISHERS WEEKLY:
Fresh Kills
Bill Loehfelm. Putnam, $24.95 (336p) ISBN 978-0-399-15531-4
Superb prose and psychological insights distinguish Loehfelm’s debut… Loehfelm excels in making Staten Island itself a palpable presence, brilliantly evoking the reek of the world’s largest landfill that gives the novel its name, as well as the despair of the local residents. (Aug. 21)
In Fresh Kills, the murder of John Sanders, Sr. on a New York street corner reunites his estranged and abused children, John, Jr. and Julia. While Julia struggles to keep things together on the home front, Junior, unhinged by his father’s death, searches for the killer across the bleak, haunted landscape of his Staten Island hometown. Complicating Junior’s pursuit are two police detectives: one, a former childhood friend; the other, a veteran cop who might have his own reasons to wish John, Sr. dead. Junior’s emotional state crumbles under the pressure coming at him from every side. Bedding his high school sweetheart doesn’t exactly simplify the situation. When the opportunity for revenge presents itself, Junior must decide whether he will continue the chain of violence that has nearly destroyed his life, or give in to the possibility of a new beginning. With emotional intensity, crackling dialogue and a heartfelt sense of place and character, Fresh Kills delivers unexpected and profound insights that speak to the soul of its struggling hero, and heralds a breakthrough voice in fiction.
Buy the brand new book, Soul Is Bulletproof: Reports from Reconstruction New Orleans, featuring work by Bill Loehfelm and many other New Orleans authors. Other titles from NOLAfugees also available.
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