<b>Vann’s gift – his quest, almost – is a willingness to explore the unimaginable, the unthinkable, on the page</b>. <b>He is the real thing – a mature, risk-taking and fantastically adept fiction writer who dares go to the darkest places, explore their most appalling corners.</b> <b>I haven’t read a novel as rough and shocking or, importantly, as wise and warm as this one in a long time.</b>
- Julie Myerson, Observer
<b>Vann’s rendering of the everyday gratings of family life is pitch-perfect ... </b><b>A well-written, unflinching exploration</b> of the often terrifying chasm between who we want to be, and who we actually are.
Sunday Telegraph
<b>Vann is a brave writer, daring to write about and depict things that most other authors would baulk at</b>, but <b>that’s what makes him so good – that unflinching eye for the darkness you could potentially find in any of us, given the wrong chain of events ...</b> <b>If you want the naked, awful truth, then dive in.</b>
- Doug Johnstone, Independent on Sunday
<b>This is a novel of violence, destruction and ruin. There is no salvation. And yet Mr Vann’s soaring writing carries it forward – a reminder of the beauty that can grace even the beastliest things</b>.
The Economist
<b>Unputdownable, thundering at breathtaking speed towards the shocking climactic act. Brilliantly chilling</b>.
Evening Standard