Good Neighbors
A Novel
ISBN 9780143118961 | 288 pages | 31 May 2011 | Penguin | 5.15 x 7.87in | 18 - AND UP
Summary of Good Neighbors
Summary of Good Neighbors
Reviews for Good Neighbors
An Excerpt from Good Neighbors
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A compulsively readable debut crime novel inspired by the legendary real-life murder of Kitty Genovese.
"Compelling, slick, exuberant, flashy, funny, fierce, and cinematic . . . Deftly written with panache and polish . . . This remarkable novel, a lean, psychologically unsettling noir tale, will stay with you long after you put it down and regretfully say, 'I wish I wrote that.'" At 4:00 A.M. on March 13, 1964, a young woman returning home from her shift at a local bar is attacked in the courtyard of her Queens apartment building. Her neighbors hear her cries; no one calls for help. Unfolding over the course of two hours, Good Neighbors is the story of the woman's last night. It is also the story of her neighbors, the bystanders who kept to themselves: the anxious Vietnam draftee; the former soldier planning suicide; the woman who thinks she's killed a child and her husband, who will risk everything for her. Revealing a fascinating cross-section of American society in expertly interlocking plotlines, Good Neighbors calls to mind the Oscar-winning movie Crash, and its suspense and profound sense of urban menace rank it with Hitchcock's Rear Window and the gritty crime novels of Dennis Lehane, Richard Price, and James Ellroy. -Library Journal, starred review "One of the best books I have ever read. . . . The writing is powerful, it takes hold of you from the first page and that hold gets tighter and tighter until the heart-wrenching ending. It was impossible to put down. Good Neighbors is a book not to be missed." -Kendall Gutierrez, Suspense Magazine "Intensely gripping . . . A fine and memorable novel." -Booklist, starred review "Heart-stopping." -Library Journal "Darkly powerful . . . Jahn inhabits these people and their problems so completely and convincingly that they don't seem like monsters even as they ignore the woman who's dying only a few yards away." -Kirkus Reviews "A terrific debut . . . A wonderfully visual book-the effect is of watching, unseen, through a dozen different windows as Jahn switches from one scenario to the next. Powerful, compassionate and authentic, it works both as a mystery and as a snapshot of America in the early 1960s." -The Guardian "Gripping . . . Jahn takes the nub of the real Genovese case and weaves a superb series of fictional stories around it. . . . He constructs a convincing edifice of doubt, anger, jealousy, despair and a host of other emotions leading inexorably to the same conclusion: do nothing." -The Times (London) "A striking first novel . . . It contains genuine insights into the way people act under pressure." -The Sunday Times (London) "An astounding piece of fiction. It grips you like a vice from the beginning and doesn't let you go. . . . [Jahn is a] bright new star to crime fiction." -Crimesquad "An audacious, inventive piece of literary thriller writing . . . Jahn's novel is subtle, delicately constructed and displays a fine ear for dialogue. It also announces the arrival of a distinctive new talent." -Daily Mail "Brutal and immediate . . . Cleverly written, accomplished and gripping. . . . At times I had to stop reading to catch my breath." -The Bookseller "Without a doubt, the most outstanding novel I have read this year." -Rhian Davies, It's a Crime! "Jahn's violent amorality tale has . . . drawn well-earned comparisons with Bret Easton Ellis and James Ellroy. . . . Gripping, and layered with juicy, scathing insights into the relationships and politics of the era, Jahn proves himself as a promising noir talent." -The List "Addictive and compelling." -BookTime "A gripping and thoughtful psychological thriller . . . Terse, telegraphic and present-tense, Jahn's style creates a voyeuristic distance between reader and characters that perfectly matches his theme, the fearfulness and atomization of urban life that encourages each man to be an island." -Financial Times "A very accomplished debut, a gripping thriller based on a real event in '60s America. Moving quickly from perspective to perspective, it scoops the reader up from page one and does not let go. This is not only a crime novel, but a brilliant evocation of '60s New York in terms of its prejudices, its corruption and its humanity." -Crime Writers Association Dagger Award judges' citation "Dark, compelling and powerful . . . Jahn is a rare and fine talent." -R. J. Ellory, author of A Quiet Belief in Angels "We might have thought we knew the Kitty Genovese story, but everything in here is unexpected and, by the end, nothing short of astonishing. Don't miss this remarkable debut novel." -Cammie McGovern, author of Neighborhood Watch and Eye Contact "Flat-out brilliant . . . At once brutal and empathic, fearless and humane, Good Neighbors leaves the reader gasping for what it ultimately reveals: the truth-about us. A brave, unique, and-yes-impossible-to-put-down read. Kitty Genovese died for our sins, and Jahn offers nothing less than final, beautiful redemption." -Jerry Stahl |
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