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Original Essays | September 9, 2013

Chris Bolton: IMG A Smash Is Born

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Editor's note: Chris Bolton is not only a former Powell's employee, he was also once the primary writer for this blog. So we are particularly proud... Continue »
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    Smash: Trial by Fire

    Chris Bolton and Kyle Bolton 9780763655969
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Night Film

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Night Film Cover

ISBN13: 9781400067886
ISBN10: 140006788x
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Brilliant, haunting, breathtakingly suspenseful, Night Film is a superb literary thriller by the New York Times bestselling author of the “blockbuster debut” (People) Special Topics in Calamity Physics.

On a damp October night, beautiful young Ashley Cordova is found dead in an abandoned warehouse in lower Manhattan. Though her death is ruled a suicide, veteran investigative journalist Scott McGrath suspects otherwise. As he probes the strange circumstances surrounding Ashley’s life and death, McGrath comes face-to-face with the legacy of her father: the legendary, reclusive, cult-horror-film director Stanislas Cordova — a man who hasn’t been seen in public for more than thirty years.

For McGrath, another death connected to this seemingly cursed family dynasty seems more than just a coincidence. Though much has been written about Cordova’s dark and unsettling films, very little is known about the man himself.

Driven by revenge, curiosity, and a need for the truth, McGrath, with the aid of two strangers, is drawn deeper and deeper into Cordova’s eerie, hypnotic world.

The last time he got close to exposing the director, McGrath lost his marriage and his career. This time he might lose even more.

Night Film, the gorgeously written, spellbinding new novel by the dazzlingly inventive Marisha Pessl, will hold you in suspense until you turn the final page.

Review:

"Seven years after Special Topics in Calamity Physics, Pessl returns with a novel as twisted and intelligent as that lauded debut. Again, the story centers on a father-daughter relationship, but this time the sinister element is front and center, beginning with the daughter's death. The 'night films' of Stanislas Cordova have a cult following: fans hold underground screenings and claim that to see his work is to 'leave your old self behind, walk through hell, and be reborn.' Ashley Cordova is his enigmatic daughter; she appears in his final film at the age of eight, debuts as a pianist at Carnegie Hall at 12, and apparently commits suicide at 24. Scott McGrath is a reporter who lost his job investigating Stanislas and can't resist his need to uncover the real story of Ashley's death. Though the structure is classic noir, Pessl delivers lifelike horror with glimpses, in the form of faux Web sites, of the secretive Stanislas, his films, and his fans. Things slow down when Scott breaks into Stanislas's estate; sustained terror depends on what is withheld, not what is shown. But Pessl does wonderful work giving the hard-headed Scott reason to question the cause of Ashley's death, and readers will be torn between logic and magic. Agent: Amanda Urban, ICM." Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Review:

“This summer’s Gone Girl: a completely absorbing literary thriller.” Library Journal

Review:

“Get ready to talk about this book.” Entertainment Weekly

Review:

“A literary mystery that’s also a page-turner...Night Film might be the most talked-about novel this summer.” Time Out New York

Review:

“An inventive — if brooding, strange and creepy — adventure in literary terror. Think Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King meet Guillermo del Toro as channeled by Klaus Kinski.” Kirkus Reviews

Review:

“Expands from a seemingly straightforward mystery into a multifaceted, densely byzantine exploration of much larger issues....Into this mazelike world of dead ends and false leads, McGrath ventures with his two, much younger helpers, Nora and Hopper, brilliantly portrayed Holmesian ‘irregulars’ who may finally understand more about Ashley than their mentor, whose linear approach to fact finding might miss the point entirely.” Booklist (starred review)
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About the Author

Marisha Pessl’s bestselling debut novel, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, won the John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize (now the Center for Fiction’s Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize), and was selected as one of the 10 Best Books of the Year by The New York Times Book Review. Pessl grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, and currently resides in New York City.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
hasnul, August 23, 2013 (view all comments by hasnul)
It's rare when a book is so special that you wish you could read it all over again for the first time and you are not even halfway through it yet. But that's Night Film. It's a book that I firmly believe will be talked about for years. It will have people saying this is their favorite book of all time. It will be criticized because someone always has to criticize a brilliant book just to be different. All the great books have naysayers. I realize I am kind of sticking this book up there on a pedestal right now, but I firmly believe it deserves to be there among the greats. It is THAT good. Absolutely recommended.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781400067886
Author:
Pessl, Marisha
Publisher:
Random House
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Publication Date:
20130820
Binding:
Hardback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
624
Dimensions:
9.4 x 6.4 x 1.43 in 2.1 lb
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Related Subjects

Featured Titles » General
Featured Titles » Literature
Featured Titles » New Favorites » Fiction
Featured Titles » Staff Favorites
Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z
Fiction and Poetry » Literature » New Arrivals
Fiction and Poetry » Popular Fiction » Contemporary Thrillers
Fiction and Poetry » Popular Fiction » Suspense

Night Film Sale Hardcover
0 stars - 0 reviews
$19.60 In Stock
Product details 624 pages Random House - English 9781400067886 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "Seven years after Special Topics in Calamity Physics, Pessl returns with a novel as twisted and intelligent as that lauded debut. Again, the story centers on a father-daughter relationship, but this time the sinister element is front and center, beginning with the daughter's death. The 'night films' of Stanislas Cordova have a cult following: fans hold underground screenings and claim that to see his work is to 'leave your old self behind, walk through hell, and be reborn.' Ashley Cordova is his enigmatic daughter; she appears in his final film at the age of eight, debuts as a pianist at Carnegie Hall at 12, and apparently commits suicide at 24. Scott McGrath is a reporter who lost his job investigating Stanislas and can't resist his need to uncover the real story of Ashley's death. Though the structure is classic noir, Pessl delivers lifelike horror with glimpses, in the form of faux Web sites, of the secretive Stanislas, his films, and his fans. Things slow down when Scott breaks into Stanislas's estate; sustained terror depends on what is withheld, not what is shown. But Pessl does wonderful work giving the hard-headed Scott reason to question the cause of Ashley's death, and readers will be torn between logic and magic. Agent: Amanda Urban, ICM." Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
"Review" by , “This summer’s Gone Girl: a completely absorbing literary thriller.”
"Review" by , “Get ready to talk about this book.”
"Review" by , “A literary mystery that’s also a page-turner...Night Film might be the most talked-about novel this summer.”
"Review" by , “An inventive — if brooding, strange and creepy — adventure in literary terror. Think Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King meet Guillermo del Toro as channeled by Klaus Kinski.”
"Review" by , “Expands from a seemingly straightforward mystery into a multifaceted, densely byzantine exploration of much larger issues....Into this mazelike world of dead ends and false leads, McGrath ventures with his two, much younger helpers, Nora and Hopper, brilliantly portrayed Holmesian ‘irregulars’ who may finally understand more about Ashley than their mentor, whose linear approach to fact finding might miss the point entirely.”
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