Synopses & Reviews
“A skin-blistering crime novel, as edgy and black as dried blood on a moonlit night.”
--Robert Crais
Elizabeth Hands writing honors include the Shirley Jackson Award, the James Tiptree Award, the Nebula Award, the World Fantasy Award, the International Horror Guild Award, and many others. Now, this uniquely gifted storyteller brings us a searing and iconoclastic crime novel, in which photographer Cass Neary, introduced in the underground classic Generation Loss, finds herself drawn into the shadowy world of crime in Scandinavias coldest corners.
As this riveting tour-de-force opens, the police already want to talk to Cass about a mysterious death she was involved with previously, but before they can bring her in, Cass accepts a job offer from overseas and hops on a plane.
In Helsinki, she authenticates a series of disturbing but stunning images taken by a famous fashion photographer who has cut himself off from the violent Nordic music scene where he first made his reputation. Paid off by her shady employer, she buys a one-way ticket to Reykjavik, in search of a lover from her own dark past.
But when the fashion photographers mutilated corpse is discovered back in Finland, Cass finds herself sucked into a vortex of ancient myth and betrayal, vengeance and serial murder, set against a bone-splintering soundtrack of black metal and the terrifying beauty of the sunless Icelandic wilderness. In Available Dark, the eagerly awaited sequel to the award-winning Generation Loss, Cass Neary finds her own worst fears confirmed: its always darkest before it turns completely black.
Review
Stunning Advance Praise for Available Dark:
“Elizabeth Hands prose is a wiry, intelligent force that ranges from blunt athleticism to fluid luminosity…Ferocious, aching with compassion and cruelly brilliant.” —Katherine Dunn
“A skin-blistering crime novel, as edgy and black as dried blood on a moonlit night.” —Robert Crais
“Fiercely frightening yet hauntingly beautiful, with a startling heroine youll never forget. Ive long been
a fan of Elizabeth Hands amazing books, and once again she proves why she is truly a writers writer,
her prose so glowing it makes all the rest of us jealous.” —Tess Gerritsen
Remarkable Praise for the work of Elizabeth Hand:
On Generation Loss
“Intense and atmospheric…An inventive brew of postpunk attitude and dark mystery. Elizabeth Hand
writes with craftsmanship and passion.” —George Pelecanos
“Cass Neary, the battle-scarred shutterbug of Elizabeth Hands incendiary literary thriller...is a marvel.”—Los Angeles Times
“A dark and beautiful novel.” —The Washington Post
On Walking the Moon: “A potent socio-erotic ghost story for our looming Millennium. Hands high-resolution narrative never
falters.” —William Gibson
“Ms. Hand is a superior stylist.” —The New York Times Book Review
“An ambitious and highly charged thriller.” —Clive Barker
On Mortal love
“A literary page-turner.” —People (four stars)
“One of the most sheerly impressive…overwhelmingly beautiful, books I have read in a long time…
[Elizabeth Hand] has the written the best book of her generation.” —Peter Straub
Review
Advance Praise for Available Dark
“A brilliant sequel to Hands acclaimed literary thriller Generation Loss… Stunning.”
--Booklist (starred review)
“Fiercely frightening yet hauntingly beautiful, with a startling heroine youll never forget… Shimmers with gorgeous writing even as it scares the dickens out of you.”
--Tess Gerritsen
“Cass Neary is one of literatures great noir anti-heroes… Ferocious, aching with compassion and cruelly brilliant, Available Dark is a sinful pleasure.”
--Katherine Dunn
Praise for Generation Loss
“Rightly compared with the sort of crime fiction turned out by the late, great Patricia Highsmith ... Hand expertly ratchets up the suspense until it's at the level of a high-pitched scream."
--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"Cass Neary, the battle-scarred shutterbug of Elizabeth Hand's incendiary literary thriller is a marvel."
--Los Angeles Times
"Brilliantly written and completely original, Hands novel is an achievement with a capital A.”
--Booklist (starred review)
Praise for Elizabeth Hands Other Work
“A superior stylist.”
--The New York Times Book Review on Waking the Moon
“Hypnotic… Moves Hands work into the territory of John Fowles and A.S. Byatt.”
--Locus on Mortal Love
“Elizabeth Hand has the written the best book of her generation.”
--Peter Straub on Mortal Love
“As noteworthy in its way as Margaret Atwoods A Handmaids Tale.”
--People on Winterlong
Review
Praise for Available Dark
"A hair-raising novel of psychological suspense. This is a series I hope will continue."
--The Globe and Mail
"The millions who devoured Stieg Larssons “Millennium” trilogy will not flinch at Hands dark subject matter... Expect this novel to break out onto best seller lists."
--Library Journal
"Cass Neary... makes Lisbeth Salander seem like a model of mental stability... Stunning."
--Publishers Weekly (starred)
“Very, very good…In Hand's thriller, we see what Lisbeth Salander would look like in 30 years, if she were tall, blonde and plausible…Hand is a bonafide literary artist.”
--Lev Grossman, Time
"In the spirit of Stieg Larssons The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo... As the dark Nordic forest thickens, so does the plot. Larsson fanatics may be unable to resist."
--The New York Post
“Pulsing with tension throughout… charged with its own chilling luminosity."
--The Washington Post
"A strong writer. Her studies of artists and musicians are something fierce, and theres a deadly beauty to her bleak rendering of the Nordic landscape."
--Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times
"Cass Neary could make Lisbeth Salander look like a suburban housewife... A stunning look at a woman forever teetering on the edge."
--Oline H. Cogdill, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
"Brilliant...stunning."
--Booklist (starred)
"Award-winner Hand... brings her great skill to a mystery series thats equally dark and enthralling... Beautiful writing and elegant, intelligent style make this a pleasure."
--RT Book Reviews (4 1/2 stars)
"A gasoline burn of a book; but it's also a tightly-plotted noir thriller...Unputdownable."
--The Rejectionist
“A brilliant sequel to Hands acclaimed literary thriller Generation Loss… Stunning.”
--Booklist (starred review)
“Fiercely frightening yet hauntingly beautiful, with a startling heroine youll never forget… Shimmers with gorgeous writing even as it scares the dickens out of you.”
--Tess Gerritsen
“Cass Neary is one of literatures great noir anti-heroes… Ferocious, aching with compassion and cruelly brilliant, Available Dark is a sinful pleasure.”
--Katherine Dunn
Praise for Generation Loss
“Rightly compared with the sort of crime fiction turned out by the late, great Patricia Highsmith ... Hand expertly ratchets up the suspense until it's at the level of a high-pitched scream."
--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"Cass Neary, the battle-scarred shutterbug of Elizabeth Hand's incendiary literary thriller is a marvel."
--Los Angeles Times
"Brilliantly written and completely original, Hands novel is an achievement with a capital A.”
--Booklist (starred review)
Praise for Elizabeth Hands Other Work
“A superior stylist.”
--The New York Times Book Review on Waking the Moon
“Hypnotic… Moves Hands work into the territory of John Fowles and A.S. Byatt.”
--Locus on Mortal Love
“Elizabeth Hand has the written the best book of her generation.”
--Peter Straub on Mortal Love
“As noteworthy in its way as Margaret Atwoods A Handmaids Tale.”
--People on Winterlong
Synopsis
"Shimmers with gorgeous writing even as it scares the dickens out of you." —Tess Gerritsen Photographer Cass Neary is already wanted by the police for questioning when she receives a mysterious job offer that sends her to Helsinki, where an iconic fashion photographer shows her a trove of gorgeous photos depicting ritual killings. After narrowly escaping death herself, Cass flees to Iceland, where she finds a former lover and a legendary, exiled musician. Soon, unsolved murders are multiplying faster than Cass can run. Elizabeth Hand is a prodigiously gifted storyteller, as is evidenced
by having been awarded the highest honors in several different fields. First-rate fiction set in Scandanavia, Available Dark, sequel to Hands acclaimed cult hit Generation Loss, proves that she has also reached the pinnacle as a suspense writer.
Synopsis
“A skin-blistering crime novel, as edgy and black as dried blood on a moonlit night.”
--Robert Crais
Elizabeth Hands writing honors include the Shirley Jackson Award, the James Tiptree Award, the Nebula Award, the World Fantasy Award, the International Horror Guild Award, and many others. Now, this uniquely gifted storyteller brings us a searing and iconoclastic crime novel, in which photographer Cass Neary, introduced in the underground classic Generation Loss, finds herself drawn into the shadowy world of crime in Scandinavias coldest corners.
As this riveting tour-de-force opens, the police already want to talk to Cass about a mysterious death she was involved with previously, but before they can bring her in, Cass accepts a job offer from overseas and hops on a plane.
In Helsinki, she authenticates a series of disturbing but stunning images taken by a famous fashion photographer who has cut himself off from the violent Nordic music scene where he first made his reputation. Paid off by her shady employer, she buys a one-way ticket to Reykjavik, in search of a lover from her own dark past.
But when the fashion photographers mutilated corpse is discovered back in Finland, Cass finds herself sucked into a vortex of ancient myth and betrayal, vengeance and serial murder, set against a bone-splintering soundtrack of black metal and the terrifying beauty of the sunless Icelandic wilderness. In this eagerly awaited sequel to the award-winning Generation Loss, Cass Neary finds her own worst fears confirmed: its always darkest before it turns completely black.
About the Author
ELIZABETH HAND, a
New York Times notable author, has written eight novels and
several short-story collections. She has won the Shirley Jackson Award, the James Tiptree
Award, the Nebula Award (twice), the World Fantasy Award (three times), and many others.
Her novella, “The Maiden Flight of McCauleys Bellerophon,” was recently nominated for
a Hugo Award. Hand is a longtime contributor to numerous publications, including the Washington
Post Book World and the Village Voice Literary Supplement. She divides her time between the coast of Maine and North London.