Synopses & Reviews
The last of a manufacturing dynasty in a dying industrial town, Bill lives alone in the family mansion and works for the Truth, the moribund local paper. He yearns to write long philosophical pieces about the American dream gone sour, not the flaccid write-ups of bake-off contests demanded by the Truth. Then, old man Lawton goes missing, and suspicion fixes on his son, Ronny. Paradoxically, the specter of violent death breathes new life into the town. For Bill, a deeper and more disturbing involvement with the Lawtons ensues. The Lawton murder and the obsessions it awakes in the town come to symbolize the mood of a nation on the edge. Compulsively readable, The Keepers of Truth startles both with its insights and with Collins's powerful, incisive writing.
Review
Jonathan Raban
author of Bad Land and Passage to Juneau
The Keepers of Truth is at once an expert and witty homage to the noir American thriller and a wonderfully observant and affecting portrait of America in its once -- and future -- decline. Michael Collins puts up an unflaggingly brilliant stylistic performance. I can think of no other writer who rises to such heights of lavish eloquence even as he remains so very cool and ironically self-aware.
Review
Robert MacFarlane
The London Observer
The Keepers of Truth is a thunderous, magnificent, apocalyptic piece of prose; at once a requiem for America and an indictment of its recent past.
Review
The Irish TimesThoroughly edgy, thoroughly enjoyable, The Keepers of Truth is an impressive performance from a rich and unpredictable talent.
About the Author
Michael Collins was born in Limerick, Ireland, and now lives in Seattle, Washington. His first book,
The Man Who Dreamt of Lobsters, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year in 1993. Michael Collins received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in Chicago.