An alluring but uneven mystery in the Murakami mold.
A man searches for a missing friend in this debut novel.
Mister Yam—yes, he’s aware it’s a strange name—is a 25-year-old man from Malaysia with a corporate job in San Francisco. He isn’t as gung-ho about the business world as his friend Lorenzo de Medici, who is desperate to land a job—any job. One day, Mister Yam gets a phone call from a mysterious woman who makes fun of his name—“Are you the one they call the purple starch?”—before revealing that she knows far more than she should about his sandwich-making habits. Later, on a train, a bald stranger gives Mister Yam a wooden box that he claims he’s never been able to open. “Ciao,” says the man as he disembarks at the next stop. “And whatever you do, don’t get lost.” Not long after, Mister Yam learns that Lorenzo has vanished—in fact, he’s been missing for weeks. So begins a journey to connect these puzzling threads, one that leads Mister Yam through a string of encounters with unusual people in dive bars, ranches, and hotels. Can he follow the enigmatic trail of clues in order to discover what happened to his friend? Or is he simply being led on a wild goose chase into the madness of the American dream? Tan’s cerebral novel is reminiscent of Haruki Murakami both in its structure and its dreamlike prose, which is always surprising though sometimes difficult to follow in Mister Yam’s narration: “Perceptiveness was not an adjective I’d ever use to describe myself, but it was clear that something was off. Like cucumber on a steak, the mismatch was obvious. But if strangeness was the cucumber, then the silence was its sauce, which descended upon me as I sat in the deserted space.” The tale’s tone is charmingly offbeat, keeping readers invested despite how slowly the author dispenses information about the narrator and his quest. Even so, the audience will eventually become frustrated with the lack of direction. The story dawdles along to a twist ending that is neither satisfying nor even terribly original, and readers will be left feeling as though they are the ones who have been led on a wild goose chase.
An alluring but uneven mystery in the Murakami mold.Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2021
ISBN: 979-8450939674
Page Count: 236
Publisher: Independently Published
Review Posted Online: Oct. 6, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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