From Powells.com
Staff Pick
In his first novel in 16 years, Cormac McCarthy returns with The Passenger — a surprising and propulsive story of a man, his sister, a plane crash, and many more mysteries to unravel. This late career masterpiece from McCarthy demands your full attention, and rewards it mightily. Recommended By Adam P., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
The best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Road returns with the first of a two-volume masterpiece: The Passenger is the story of a salvage diver, haunted by loss, afraid of the watery deep, pursued for a conspiracy beyond his understanding, and longing for a death he cannot reconcile with God.
Look for Stella Maris, the second volume in The Passenger series, on sale November 22nd, 2022
1980, PASS CHRISTIAN, MISSISSIPPI: It is three in the morning when Bobby Western zips the jacket of his wetsuit and plunges from the Coast Guard tender into darkness. His divelight illuminates the sunken jet, nine bodies still buckled in their seats, hair floating, eyes devoid of speculation. Missing from the crash site are the pilot's flightbag, the plane's black box, and the tenth passenger. But how? A collateral witness to machinations that can only bring him harm, Western is shadowed in body and spirit--by men with badges; by the ghost of his father, inventor of the bomb that melted glass and flesh in Hiroshima; and by his sister, the love and ruin of his soul.
Traversing the American South, from the garrulous barrooms of New Orleans to an abandoned oil rig off the Florida coast, The Passenger is a breathtaking novel of morality and science, the legacy of sin, and the madness that is human consciousness.
Review
"Packed with textbook McCarthy hallmarks, like transgressive behaviors and cascades of ecstatic language, it's a welcome return from a legend who's been gone too long." — Adrienne Westenfeld, Esquire
Review
"A rich story of an underachieving salvage diver in 1980 New Orleans...This thriller narrative is intertwined with the story of Western's sister, Alicia...He dazzles with his descriptions of a beautifully broken New Orleans...The book's many pleasures will leave readers aching for the final installment." — Publishers Weekly
Review
"A beguiling, surpassingly strange novel by the renowned — and decidedly idiosyncratic — author of Blood Meridian (1982) and The Road (2006)....Enigmatic, elegant, extraordinary: a welcome return after a too-long absence." — Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
About the Author
The novels of the American writer, Cormac McCarthy, have received a number of literary awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. His works adapted to film include All the Pretty Horses, The Road, and No Country for Old Men — the latter film receiving four Academy Awards, including the award for Best Picture.