Synopses & Reviews
Jess Walter's widely acclaimed debut thriller,
Over Tumbled Graves, matched a genre-bending plot with exceptional intelligence and human insight. A
New York Times Notable Book of the Year, it was praised in the
Washington Post Book World as a work of "tremendous emotional impact," and James Patterson wrote that Walter had "just about lapped the field with his superior first novel."
Now Walter returns to up the ante once again. Land of the Blind brings back Spokane police detective Caroline Mabry and pits her in a battle of wits against a mysterious, yet oddly familiar figure who appears one Friday night, seeming disoriented and wearing an eye patch. He has a confession to make, the man announces, but he insists on writing it out and it may take a while.
Nineteen hours later with the stranger still writing Caroline finds herself scrambling to investigate not merely a murder, but the story of two men's darkly intertwined lives...and to find the body that awaits her, somewhere in the city.
The result is a novel of rich characterization and riveting suspense: by turns haunting and witty, but always compelling, Land of the Blind is that rare thing a suspense novel that is genuinely original.
Synopsis
Jess Walter's first two novels, OVER TUMBLED GRAVES and LAND OF THE BLIND, have garnered truly extraordinary acclaim from all quarters for their strong characterizations and original stories. Each of them was a BookSense 76 selection and an Amazon.com Penzler Pick, and each garnered extraordinary rave reviews in all quarters of the literary world--from mystery writers to literary novelists. Now, to tie in with the new paperback editions of Walter's National Book Award finalist THE ZERO and Edgar Award-winning CITIZEN VINCE, Harper Perennial is proud to be republishing OVER TUMBLED GRAVES and LAND OF THE BLIND in new, handsomely designed, trade paperback editions.
LAND OF THE BLIND once again features Detective Caroline Mabry of the Spokane Police Department, homicide division. Now burned out and working the weekend night shift, Caroline is confronted with the arrival of an apparently unstable but somehow charming derelict, who proclaims that he has a murder he wants to confess to. At first she dismisses him as a nutcase--but when she discovers that he is in fact Clark Mason, a former wunderkind politician, she agrees to let him write out his confession. Nineteen hours later--with Mason still writing--Caroline finds herself scrambling to investigate his long, progressively darker and more twisted story, which leads not only to a murder but to the story of two men's intricately intertwined lives.
Fiendishly clever and darkly funny, LAND OF THE BLIND blends suspense with rich characterization and irresistible storytelling.
Synopsis
"A mystery novel of profound depth." -- Booklist (starred review)
"Walter is at his incisive best. . . . Hypnotically compelling. -- Publishers Weekly
In this fiendishly clever and darkly funny novel, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jess Walter explores the bonds and compromises we make as children--and the fatal errors we can make at any time in our lives.
While working the weekend night shift, Caroline Mabry, a weary Spokane police detective, encounters a seemingly unstable but charming derelict who tells her, I'd like to confess. But he insists on writing out his statement in longhand. In the forty-eight hours that follow, the stranger confesses to not just a crime but an entire life--spinning a wry and haunting tale of youth and adulthood, of obsession and revenge, and of two men's intertwined lives.
Synopsis
Jess Walter's widely acclaimed first novel, Over Tumbled Graves, paired the plot of a first-rate thriller with writing of exceptional intelligence and human insight. Now, in
Land of the Blind, Walter brings back police detective Caroline Mabry and pits her in a battle of wits against a mysterious yet oddly familiar figure who is dragged into her precinct house one Friday night, seeming disoriented and wearing an eye patch.
"I'd like to confess, he says. But he insists on writing out his confession in longhand. And, he warns her, it may take a while.
Over the next forty-eight hours, the stranger admits to far more than a crime. He confesses an entire life: a wry and haunting tale of poverty and politics, of obsession and revenge. And as he writes, Caroline pushes herself to near collapse, racing against the clock to investigate not merely a murder but the story of two men's darkly intertwined lives ... and to find the body that awaits her, somewhere in the city.
The result is a novel that blends suspense with rich characterization and irresistible storytelling, one that speaks deeply to the bonds and compromises we make as children -- and the fatal errors we can make at any moment in our lives.
Synopsis
In Land of the Blind, Jess Walter, National Book Award finalist and author of Citizen Vince and The Zero, explores the bonds and compromises we make as children—and the fatal errors we can make at any time in our lives. Fiendishly clever and darkly funny, Land of the Blind follows Caroline Mabry, a weary police detective racing against the clock to investigate both a murder and two mens darkly intertwined lives.
About the Author
Jess Walter is the author of six novels, including the bestsellers Beautiful Ruins and The Financial Lives of the Poets, the National Book Award finalist The Zero, and Citizen Vince, the winner of the Edgar Award for best novel. His short fiction has appeared in Harper's, McSweeney's, and Playboy, as well as The Best American Short Stories and The Best American Nonrequired Reading. He lives in his hometown of Spokane, Washington.