 |
|
|
|
|
Alive in Necropolis |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Book: Hardcover | 9.25 x 6.25in | 448 pages | ISBN 9781594489877 | 17 Jul 2008 | Riverhead | 18 - AND UP |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A “dark and funny debut”(Seattle-Times) about a young police officer struggling to maintain a sense of reality in a town where the dead outnumber the living.
Colma, California, the “cemetery city” serving San Francisco, is the resting place of the likes of Joe DiMaggio, Wyatt Earp, and William Randolph Hearst. It is also the home of Michael Mercer, a by-the-book rookie cop struggling to settle comfortably into adult life. Instead, he becomes obsessed with the mysterious fate of his predecessor, Sergeant Wes Featherstone, who spent his last years policing the dead as well as the living. As Mercer attempts to navigate the drama of his own daily life, his own grip on reality starts to slip—either that, or Colma’s more famous residents are not resting in peace as they should be.
“Atmospheric. . .part mystery, part compelling account of an angst-ridden young man finding his way in the world.”
—Booklist
“Poignant and funny, especially about the self-destructive fools that love makes us. Dorst is a talent to watch.”
—Kirkus
“This charming first novel maps the landscape and lives of a small town where ghosts and the living are sometimes indistinguishable from one another. That's what police officer Michael Mercer discovers the night he saves the life of a teenage boy left unconscious and at the mercy of the elements in a Colma, Calif., cemetery. Later, Michael witnesses nocturnal incidents that turn out to be the afterlife activities of local residents who've been dead for decades. The repetitive and unresolved activities of the dead slyly parallel Michael's aimless life and the lives of friends and colleagues similarly mired in day-to-day routine. Though the supernatural elements aren't as well integrated into the main action as they might be, Dorst strikes a perfect balance between humor and pathos. His ability to show the magic potential of everyday lives marks him as an author to watch.”
—Publisher’s Weekly
Praise for Doug Dorst: “It would be a shame if Doug Dorst is written of as one of the best debut novelists we’ve seen in years. He’s better than that. He’s one of the best novelists we’ve seen in years, writing well beyond the level we’ve learned to expect of ‘first novelists’ or ‘new voices.’ He has the control and daring possessed by only the greats of each generation. He writes with humor and wisdom that is rare, and an empathy for his characters that is warm and complex and unique.”
—Stephen Elliott, author of Happy Baby
PEN Hemingway Honorable Mention
|
|
|
Email Alerts
To keep up-to-date, input your email address, and we will contact you on publication
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Penguin Gifts & Gear
T-shirts, tote bags, gift sets and more.
Get Your Gear » Here
|
|
|
|
|
|
