The Singer’s Gun
Everyone Anton Waker grew up with is corrupt. His parents dealt in stolen goods, and he was a successful purveyor of forged documents until he abandoned it all in his early twenties, determined to live a normal life, complete with career, apartment, and a fiancée who knows nothing of his criminal beginnings. He’s on the verge of finally getting married when Aria—his cousin and former partner in crime—blackmails him into helping her with one last job.
Anton considers the task a small price for future freedom. But as he sets off for an Italian honeymoon, it soon becomes clear that the ghosts of his past can’t be left behind so easily, and that the task Aria requires will cost him more than he could ever imagine.
Listen to a sample from The Singer’s Gun
Praise for The Singer’s Gun
Betty Webb,
Mystery Scene
“Big in concept, flawless in tone, The Singer’s Gun is a tender and astounding tour de force.”
The Washington Post
“The Singer's Gun begins like a straightforward crime thriller... but Mandel's new novel is something far rarer than this classic noir opening suggests. She introduces us to haunted, often fugitive individuals stranded in places from New York to Italy, from the past to the present. And her book strikes a perfect balance between introspection and action…An eminently satisfying thriller."
BookPage
Stephenie Harrison,
“The Singer's Gun is a nail-biting thriller overflowing with high-stakes issues such as blackmail, theft, fraud and human trafficking. In Mandel’s hands, these acts are transmuted into a morally nebulous gray zone, in which the complexities of life fail to be easily captured in terms of black and white, right and wrong. ... This is a turbulent and diverting read that manages to both entertain and prompt valuable contemplation of its stickier issues.”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Shirley K. Murray,
“A gripping story, full of moral ambiguities, where deception and betrayal become the norm, and where the expression ‘a riddle wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma’ is lifted to new heights.”
RiverRun Bookstore, Portsmouth
Michele Filgate,
“Simultaneously a page-turner and a finely written piece of literary fiction. Fans of the tv show THE WIRE will find much to like in a story that is a meditation on identity, criminal behavior, and the boundaries of love. Mandel is one of the most talented young novelists out there.”
