. . . a wonder of intense, cinematic storytelling. It is also a novel that works well on many different levels, as comedy, romance, period piece, thriller, switching fluidly from one to another…Considering the treacherous characters and grimly comic incidents, the reader may be surprised but not shocked by the ending. It is an ending that demonstrates Martyn Burke’s subtle understanding of human nature in some of its more cruel, enigmatic manifestations. He has written a novel that is honest, inventive, memorable.
Wall Street Journal