Kirkus Star
THE KIRKUS STAR
Awarded to Books of Exceptional Merit

BROWSE BOOK REVIEWS




Best Fiction of 2012: The Top 25 (page 2)


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Cover art for AEROGRAMMES
FICTION
Released: April 5, 2012

"At every turn, James' prose is crisp, observant and carefully controlled; unlike the narrator of "Escape Key," who grows increasingly aware of his fiction's shortcomings, James projects a deep emotional intelligence."
A well-turned set of stories defined by emotional and physical separation, particularly in the Indian-American diaspora. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE COLDEST NIGHT
FICTION
Released: April 3, 2012

"An exceptionally fine study of love, war and the double-edged role of memory, which can both sustain and destroy. Prize-winning material."
It's extremes that rivet us in Olmstead's searing seventh novel: the heaven of first love; the hell of the battlefield. Read full book review >
Cover art for KINGDOM COME
FICTION
Released: March 5, 2012

"Ballard writes brilliantly about the nightmarish underside of modern life, and this novel makes us poignantly aware of the loss of his voice. "
Ballard (1930–2009) creates a world reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange and V for Vendetta in this novel of suburban fascism. Read full book review >
Cover art for ARCADIA
FICTION
Released: March 1, 2012

"A novel of "the invisible tissue of civilization," of "community or freedom," and of the precious fragility of lives in the balance."
An astonishing novel, both in ambition and achievement, filled with revelations that appear inevitable in retrospect, amid the cycle of life and death. Read full book review >
Cover art for HOPE: A TRAGEDY
FICTION
Released: Jan. 12, 2012

"Brutal, irreverent and very funny. An honest-to-goodness heir to Portnoy's Complaint."
A family man suffers from money woes, a judgmental spouse and a hectoring mother. But things don't get really funny until he discovers Anne Frank living in his attic. Read full book review >