Synopses & Reviews
The blazingly original novel from the most exciting new voice in crime fiction today a brilliantly crafted modern noir filled with secrets, heartbreak, and mordant humor
Gloria Mendez is single and thirty-six, and secretly and somewhat hopelessly in love with her oblivious boss. He is both single and solitary, and far too old for her, but she has worked for him, side by side, for ten oddly companionable years. But when he disappears on his annual trip to Mexico the one aspect of his life to which she's never been privy Gloria's sudden and impulsive search for him reveals the wreckage of a hidden past. Carl Perreira was not who Gloria thought he was nor was he anything she could have imagined.
As Gloria travels this twisted road into Carl's backstory, she realizes she might not have known him at all. Her investigation discloses as much about her own life as it does about her mysterious boss and leaves her fighting for her life. Sunstroke is everything a thriller should be: circuitous, thought provoking, and brimming with edge-of-the-seat suspense and the start of a brilliant career.
Review
"[A] superb debut thriller....Funny, exciting and stylishly written a delicious tour de force not to be missed." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Kellerman uses a seductive style a kind of magic realism that suits the miragelike landscape to ensnare us in his characters' lives and make us feel, like Gloria, that we're trapped in a hypnotic dream." Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
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"[An] extraordinarily self-assured debut novel....This tightly focused thriller features expertly drawn characters, vivid scenes, and simmering tension. If it never comes to a rolling boil, that's all right. There's plenty of heat here to justify the buzz." Booklist
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"Kellerman's playwriting background shines through in this wonderful portrait of a woman....It's a slow-burning, sunbaked noir treat. (Grade: A-)" Entertainment Weekly
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"[F]inely written, sleekly plotted....[O]ne of the brainier, more deeply felt debuts in recent years." Los Angeles Times
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"Sunstroke did not work for me. It's a shaggy-dog tale, the characters are ciphers, and the dialogue is silly....You might love it, you might even be able to diagram its sentences, but it didn't work for me." Patrick Anderson, The Washington Post Book World
Review
"The plot moves along quickly enough, and Gloria is a strong, intense character. Although some of the dialog seems artificial and forced, it fits in with the overall mood and atmosphere..." Library Journal
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"[Kellerman] hits the ground running in his intriguing debut....Sunstroke shows Kellerman's pedigree, but he has proven to be a solid storyteller in his own right." South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Synopsis
The acclaimed debut by the son of bestselling novelists Faye and Jonathan Kellerman. When her boss of ten years disappears in Mexico, Gloria Mendez travels the twisted road into his backstory, discovering that Carl Perriera was not who she thought he was and she ends up fighting for her own life.
Synopsis
Jesse Kellerman—the international bestselling author of The Executor and The Genius—brings his prodigious talent to bear on a topic he knows well in this hilarious and surprising spin on the modern blockbuster thriller novel. Missing for months after a tragic boating accident, William de Vallée, the superstar thriller writer, is pronounced dead. His oldest friend, Arthur Pfefferkorn, receives the news with an unsettling mix of grief and envy. A middle-aged college professor with long-dead literary aspirations, Pfefferkorn can’t help but feel outshone by his friend’s success—especially since he married the woman Pfefferkorn loved. But now Bill is gone, and Pfefferkorn is there to comfort Carlotta in her time of grief. Reconnecting with de Vallée’s widow makes more than one of his dreams come true . . . until it plunges him into a shadowy world of intrigue and double crosses, where no one can be trusted—and nothing can be taken seriously.
Synopsis
An Edgar(R) Award Nominee for Best Novel Jesse Kellermanthe international bestselling author of The Executor and The Geniusbrings his prodigious talent to bear on a topic he knows well in this hilarious and surprising spin on the modern blockbuster thriller novel. Missing for months after a tragic boating accident, William de Vallée, the superstar thriller writer, is pronounced dead. His oldest friend, Arthur Pfefferkorn, receives the news with an unsettling mix of grief and envy. A middle-aged college professor with long-dead literary aspirations, Pfefferkorn cant help but feel outshone by his friends successespecially since he married the woman Pfefferkorn loved. But now Bill is gone, and Pfefferkorn is there to comfort Carlotta in her time of grief. Reconnecting with de Vallées widow makes more than one of his dreams come true . . . until it plunges him into a shadowy world of intrigue and double crosses, where no one can be trustedand nothing can be taken seriously.
About the Author
Jesse Kellerman is a recent graduate of Harvard and an MFA from Brandeis. His award-winning plays have been producted throughout the United States and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He received the 2003 Princess Grace Award, given to America's most promising young playwright, and has been a fellow at New Dramatists.