Kirkus Star
THE KIRKUS STAR
Awarded to Books of Exceptional Merit

BROWSE BOOK REVIEWS




Best Fiction of 2012 (page 5)


Cover art for THE GARDEN OF EVENING MISTS
FICTION
Released: Sept. 4, 2012

"Grace and empathy infuse this melancholy landscape of complex loyalties enfolded by brutal history, creating a novel of peculiar, mysterious, tragic beauty."
The unexpected relationship between a war-scarred woman and an exiled gardener leads to a journey through remorse to a kind of peace. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE BOOK OF MISCHIEF
FICTION
Released: Sept. 4, 2012

"Stern weaves an intricate and clever web of stories steeped in both sacred and mundane Jewish culture."
"Mischief" is indeed the operative term here, for Stern's characters are subtle, slyly humorous and at times poignant. Read full book review >
Cover art for HOSTAGE
FICTION
Released: Aug. 24, 2012
by Elie Wiesel, translated by Catherine Temerson

"Nobel Peace Prize winner Wiesel continues to remind us of the brilliant possibilities of the philosophical and political novel. "
Wiesel takes us on a journey through dream, memory and especially storytelling in his latest novel, which concerns Shaltiel Feigenberg, who in 1975, is captured and imprisoned for 80 hours in a basement by two captors. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE ORCHARDIST
FICTION
Released: Aug. 21, 2012

"Superb work from an abundantly gifted young writer."
Set in early-20th-century Washington state, Coplin's majestic debut follows a makeshift family through two tragic decades. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE SURVIVOR
FICTION
Released: Aug. 21, 2012

"A fine thriller that succeeds on every level. How often do you read about a hero who just wants to die in peace?"
Hurwitz demonstrates his mastery of the thriller genre. Read full book review >
Cover art for SIMPLE
FICTION
Released: Aug. 21, 2012

"George's all-too-familiar story is so richly observed, subtly characterized, precisely written--her syncopated paragraphs are a special delight--and successful in its avoidance of genre clichés that you'd swear you were reading the first police procedural ever written."
George's Pittsburgh cops (Hideout, 2011, etc.) investigate a robbery-murder that's a lot less routine and more sordid than it looks. Read full book review >