Yates Quality
Richard Yates
In a startling change of direction, cult favourite Tao Lin presents a dark and brooding tale of illicit love that is his most sophisticated and mesmerising yet. Named after the real-life writer Richard Yates, but, having nothing to do with him, Lin tracks the illicit affair between a very young writer and his underage lover. As the writer seeks to balance work and love, his young lover becomes ever more self-destructive in a play for his undivided attention. Lin's trademark minimalism takes on a new sharp-edged suspense here, zeroing in on a lacerating narrative.
Grist Mill Road
An Entertainment Weekly "Must Read" • One of the NPR Book Concierge's "Best Books of the Year" "Twisty and told from multiple perspectives, this meaty thriller races to a satisfying finish." —People magazine "The intensity of the storytelling is exhilarating and unsettling." —Booklist (starred review) Twenty-six years ago Hannah had her eye shot out. Now she wants justice. But is she blind to the truth? "Arresting...Twisting backward and forward in time, entering the minds of each character in turn, Yates examines both how they reached this point and what happens years later, when the past wreaks havoc on the present....[A] sophisticated...elegant narrative." —The New York Times "The plot is darkly, intricately layered, full of pitfalls and switchbacks, smart and funny and moving and merciless." —Tana French, New York Times bestselling author of In the Woods and The Trespasser "Dark, intense, and disturbing...Highly recommended." —Krysten Ritter, author of Bonfire "Two of life's delicious pleasures—gourmet delectations and a sinister, plot-twisty tale—come together in this intelligent thriller." —Oprah.com Christopher J. Yates’s cult hit Black Chalk introduced that rare writerly talent: a literary writer who could write a plot with the intricacy of a brilliant mental puzzle, and with characters so absorbing that readers are immediately gripped. Yates’s new book does not disappoint. Grist Mill Road is a dark, twisted, and expertly plotted Rashomon-style tale. The year is 1982; the setting, an Edenic hamlet some ninety miles north of New York City. There, among the craggy rock cliffs and glacial ponds of timeworn mountains, three friends—Patrick, Matthew, and Hannah—are bound together by a terrible and seemingly senseless crime. Twenty-six years later, in New York City, living lives their younger selves never could have predicted, the three meet again—with even more devastating results.
Disturbing the Peace
John Wilder is in his mid-thirties, a successful salesman with a place in the country, an adoring wife and a ten-year-old son.But something is wrong. His family no longer interests him, his infidelities are leading him nowhere and he has begun to drink too much. Then one night, something inside John snaps and he calls his wife to tell her that he isn't coming home...
Black Chalk
A compulsively readable psychological thriller set in New York and at Oxford University in which a group of six students play an elaborate game of dares and consequences with tragic result It was only ever meant to be a game played by six best friends in their first year at Oxford University; a game of consequences, silly forfeits, and childish dares. But then the game changed: The stakes grew higher and the dares more personal and more humiliating, finally evolving into a vicious struggle with unpredictable and tragic results. Now, fourteen years later, the remaining players must meet again for the final round. Who knows better than your best friends what would break you? A gripping psychological thriller partly inspired by the author's own time at Oxford University, Black Chalk is perfect for fans of the high tension and expert pacing of The Secret History and The Bellwether Revivals. Christopher J. Yates' background in puzzle writing and setting can clearly be seen in the plotting of this clever, tricky book that will keep you guessing to the very end.