LOCUST LANE
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For fans of Mystic River by Dennis Lehane and Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, Stephen Amidon’s Locust Lane is a taut and utterly propulsive story about the search for justice and the fault lines of power and influence in a seemingly idyllic town. Can anyone be trusted?
Read more... Praise for Locust Lane"Over the past three decades, Stephen Amidon has produced a series of novels as compulsively readable as they are hard-edge about such uncomfortable facts of American life as race, class and money. His latest, “Locust Lane,” adheres to this bracing tradition with the story of a young woman killed in the affluent Boston suburb of Emerson and the ugly truths about several of its elite denizens that come to light in the murder’s wake."
WENDY SMITH The Washington Post A "sharp portrait of class divisions and high-end disfunction...in a community heaving with careless wealth." SARAH LYLE New York Times "Stephen Amidon has spent considerable time in London, so perhaps that’s why he’s so good at conjuring the nasty wittiness of a mid-century British novel (which is exactly the tone I want to find in a book about wealthy people behaving very, very badly). The characters of Locust Lane bicker snidely, make harsh judgements about those they despise, and willfully ignore the faults of those they love. When a girl is found murdered, the parents of the three teenagers who were partying with her will do anything to protect their own, prepared for victory by a lifetime of privilege yet vulnerable to the consequences of a lifetime of secrets." MOLLIE ODINTZ CrimeReads. A "taut domestic thriller... Everyone has a story, everyone has secrets, and all that enthusiastic page-turning created a refreshing breeze. Amidon’s very good at twisting in and out of his different characters’ consciousness; you keep wondering who to root for, right up to the end." MOIRA MACDONALD Seattle Times You can’t trust anyone in the suburbs, especially when a young woman dies at a fancy house. Amidon shows the darkness with a multiple strand plot that he ties together with writing so tight, and turns of phrase so striking, that I had to stop and read some of them out loud for the joy of it. --James Comey |
"Told in the voice of an omniscient narrator, who moves from character to character, Amidon’s compulsively readable, richly plotted crime novel is a tour de force that grabs readers’ attention and doesn’t let go until the final page. Read and enjoy."
MICHAEL CART Booklist STARRED REVIEW "Locust Lane is a thrilling, immersive read that will keep you guessing right until the end." PHILIP WOMACK The Spectator "an intense page-turner." STEVEN WHITTON The Anniston Star "This truly gripping novel, both a convoluted family drama and a suspenseful murder investigation, delivers intrigue and moral depth." CLARA NEWTON Shelf Awareness "[A] suburban noir thriller that packs a gut punch...A girl is killed in a wealthy neighborhood of an upscale Massachusetts town. She had been partying with three other kids who quickly become suspects. What had fueled the crime? Drinking, drugs, sex? All of the above. Add in a soupçon of bullying, insecurity, self-harm, privilege, religion, race, and xenophobia and you’ve got all the ingredients. Throw in the rich, entitled parents, their lawyers, and a successful restaurateur, and you’ve got the recipe for a fine noir dish. Simmer as the pace heats up and the tension becomes relentless. Delicious. Chef’s kiss." Deadly Pleasures "Menacing mystery." IYANA JONES Pop Sugar "Psychological thriller that will keep you up at night." TIERNEY BRICKER E! Online Characters' "stories blend together in the Rashomon-style of storytelling that has understandably gained significant appeal in the domestic thriller field of recent years.. There are many twists as the story progresses, with characters coming together and falling apart. I was really rooting for Danielle and Patrick, two damaged souls finding a safe haven in one another, throughout....as a bald faced examination of affluenza and the privileges wealth affords, Locust Lane is a highly realistic read, with an ending that will have readers ruefully wishing that we all lived in a better world" DOREEN SHERIDAN Criminal Element "A cool-headed, red-blooded novel of such ice-pick intelligence that you might find yourself wondering, as I did, when you last read a thriller this sophisticated. Like Lehane and Landay — like Harlan Coben, too, and Laura Dave in The Last Thing He Told Me, he detonates surprises with perfect timing." A.J. FINN #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window MORE PRESS |