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May
21
Just Read It: THE SINGER’S GUN by Emily St. John Mandel
2010 at 12pm Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
Published May 4, 2010 by Unbridled Books
How good is The Singer’s Gun? So good that it defies description. So good that I’ve been raving it about it nonstop. So good—and so full of twists and turns and subtle surprises—that I can’t write my traditional review of it because I don’t want to give away anything.
This is what Unbridled’s website has to say about it:
Everyone Anton Waker grew up with is corrupt. His parents deal in stolen goods and his first career is a partnership venture with his cousin Aria selling forged passports and social security cards to illegal aliens. Anton longs for a less questionable way of living in the world and by his late twenties has reinvented himself as a successful middle manager. Then a routine security check suggests that things are not quite what they appear. And Aria begins blackmailing him to do one last job for her. But the seemingly simple job proves to have profound and unexpected repercussions.
As Anton’s carefully constructed life begins to disintegrate around him, he’s forced to choose between loyalty to his family and his desires for a different kind of life. When everyone is willing to use someone else to escape the past, it is up to Anton, on the island of Ischia, to face the ghosts that travel close behind him.
And here’s what I think: whether you normally read thrillers or not, you NEED to read The Singer’s Gun. Mandel’s characters are complex, conflicted, and carefully drawn. Her prose is beautiful, and her examination of identity—on many levels—and family and the drive to create “a different kind of life” is quietly mindblowing. They live in the moral gray areas, and they know it. Anton’s father tells him “You have to do things that are a little questionable sometimes…It’s all part of making a living,” and his mother tells him, “It isn’t black-and-white, what we do or what anyone else does in the world.”
Mandel enters the gray areas gracefully and presents a story that is so well-crafted that she *almost* allows us to forget it is also about something bigger…but not quite. And that is a beautiful thing. The Singer’s Gun isn’t a slam-bang kind of thriller; it’s a slow burn, a story that draws you in, gradually builds up tension at the perfect pace, and lulls you into complacency until, all of a sudden, you realize you’ve been holding your breath for pages at a time.
I found myself reading and then re-reading many sections of The Singer’s Gun, taking in the story on the first pass and going back for a deeper understanding of what Mandel says about identity, morality, family, and what we will do in the name of possibility. This is a literary thriller of the highest order, a story that can be read for sheer enjoyment or for much more, and I can’t say enough good things about it. The Singer’s Gun is immensely satisfying, and as Jenn said in her blurb of it: “OMGILOVEDTHEHELLOUTOFIT!” 5 out of 5.
Hey, FTC: I received a copy of this book as a gift.
I am an IndieBound affiliate and will receive a small commission when you purchase The Singer’s Gun through one of my links
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Rebecca Schinsky
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I need to stop reading your blog. No offense, you just always add more to my wish list / tbr pile! I’ve seen reviews of this and though well, maybe. Now I am feeling a desperate urge to go get it right now! Sounds amazing.
Here is hoping this one is easier to find then the last one I went hunting for (Orange is the New Black) which I ended up asking about at 4 stores and then just buying online!
.-= Amy´s last blog ..Bookshelves: The Fiction Edition =-.
That’s so weird that ORANGE was hard to find. I’ve seen it in an indie and two chain stores here in Richmond. Hmph. Hope you enjoy THE SINGER’S GUN, which should be easier to find, and thanks for the highest compliment you can give me
I LOVED her Last Night in Montreal, so I will definitely read this one. So glad you strongly recommend this.
.-= Aths´s last blog ..Friday Finds — May 21, 2010 =-.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by FredRamey, Rebecca and Rebecca , Emirates Lit Fest. Emirates Lit Fest said: Just Read It: THE SINGER'S GUN by Emily St. John Mandel | The Book Lady's Blog: http://bit.ly/crRZPu via @addthis [...]
Sounds like one I definitely need to pick up. The title certainly captured my attention too.
Rebecca, thank you so much for this wonderful review! You’ve made my Friday. I’m glad you loved the book.
I loved this one, too! But there really is no way to give a summary without giving up a couple of the things that took me by surprise. You do just have to say “read it but don’t read any synopsis. Trust me.”
.-= Lisa´s last blog ..The Queen of Palmyra by Minrose Gwyn =-.
My pleasure! And thanks for stopping by, Emily. I wish I could have been more articulate about the book, but I just loved it beyond words.
I was intrigued with this author on the last blog tour, and now you can’t even turn around without hearing about this one. Sounds like a book that is primed and ready to be purchased on the Kindle, after a few glasses of wine.
.-= Sandy´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday: Maui #10 =-.
Fantastic review. I have this one on my Sony Reader. I definitely need to bump it up Mt. TBR!
.-= Jenn’s Bookshelves´s last blog ..Guest Post & Giveaway: Karen White, author of On Folly Beach =-.
I haven’t heard of this one. Sounds really good! I like the way you described it as a thriller that’s “a slow burn” and you don’t realize “you’re holding your breath for pages at a time.”
.-= Rebecca´s last blog ..Heartfelt Haiku for Haiku Friday =-.
You read so many wonderful books. I keep adding anything you review to my wishlist.
.-= Iris´s last blog ..Candide, or Optimism by Voltaire =-.
count it as in my NEED pile.
didnt read your whole review as i gained interest very quickly.
want to ensure i dont know too much in advance
always looking for a good thriller!!
.-= erisian23´s last blog ..Automaton angst… =-.
This book looks very interesting! I would not have guessed by the cover or by its’ description that it was a “thriller” (a genre I tend not to read). But you say it’s a literary thriller. I’ve got to check this one out!
.-= Valerie´s last blog ..Some Bookish Tidbits, and Announcing a Winner! =-.
Well, I don’t think it’s a thriller in the traditional sense, but it sounds absolutely fascinating, and I’m more than willing to think of cancer as the villain.
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