Pyres

by Nikitas, Derek

• ISBN13: 9780312533885
• ISBN10: 0312533888
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-12-09
• Publisher: Minotaur Books

Summary

Short story writer Nikitas fills his engaging, atmospheric first novel, set in upstate New York, with Swedish mythology and American carnage. The murder of a local professor sets off a violent chain of events that tears apart a family and the community.

Author Biography

Derek Nikitas has published stories in The Ontario Review, Chelsea, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and The Pedestal Magazine. Pyres is his first novel.

Table of Contents

"Nikitas' stellar first novel isn't just one of the best genre debuts of the year, it's one of the best releases -- period."  --The Chicago Tribune

"Part whodunnit, part horror story, with a pinch of the supernatural, Nikitas's debut novel is not your average mystery... This is a genre-stretching narrative where the bad guys are human, the good guys are flawed, and rescue arrives late if at all. It is also literary, gripping, and very real; Nikitas captures the voices of his three female protagonists with compelling accuracy." --Library Journal

"A harrowing debut novel in which a girl who witnesses the brutal murder of her father learns the worst is yet to come... The prose is admirable, the mood pure Ingmar Bergman. Proceed with caution." --Kirkus Reviews

"A heartbreaking coming-of-age story and a gripping pyschological thriller." --Booklist 

"A stylish, assured voice that depicts his characters in every harsh, flattering, beautiful light and shows how a single, seemingly random event has the effect of converging the lives of disparate and damaged people." -- Sarah Weinman

"A fever dream and a waking nightmare--a hypnotic, sophisticated descent into hell. Nikitas is the heir apparent to Joyce Carol Oates." -- Marcus Sakey, THE BLADE ITSELF

"Derek owes me a night's sleep...Loved it! That opening chapter shocked me rigid.... Are you sure this is a debut? The writing is to roar for and loud and triumphant. Just a marvelous, wonderful book!" --Ken Bruen