“Michael Koryta is a fearless
stylist who has put his hand to ghost stories, historical novels,
killer-thrillers, revenge tragedies, morality tales and detective stories. He’s
now swinging from the high wire with THOSE
WHO WISH ME DEAD, a heart-thumping backwoods adventure that sends two
creatively sadistic killers into Montana’s Beartooth Mountains, where they
spark a monster forest fire to flush out the only witness to their crimes: Jace
Wilson, a 14-year-old-boy…. Koryta rigs his tripwire plot with all sorts of
unpredictable characters and unforeseen events, including a “flint-and-steel”
electrical storm that will make your hair stand on end. There are any number of
hunting parties combing the burning woods for Jace, from the Blackwell brothers
to two determined women riding an injured horse. But sitting here, heart in
mouth, it sure looks as if that raging forest fire will outrun them all.” —Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review
“Michael Koryta's latest novel skillfully melds a thrilling
adventure story set against the Montana wilderness with a poignant
coming-of-age story…Koryta's vivid Montana landscape scenes pulsate with the
smells and sounds of the great outdoors. His three-dimensional characters
realistically explore the choices they are forced to make as the author keeps
the plot twisting with believable turns.” —Oline
Cogdill, Associated Press
“I was reminded of the best of John Steinbeck and Cormac McCarthy while
reading these pages, but most of all, I was reminded of Koryta, who continually
matches and exceeds the expectations that he himself creates with the release
of each new book.” —Book Reporter
“The wilderness thriller with the summer's best
opening sentence. Here's the first sentence of Those Who Wish Me Dead (Little Brown):
"On the last day of Jace Wilson’s life, the fourteen-year-old stood on a
quarry ledge staring at cool, still water and finally understood something his
mother had told him years before: Trouble might come for you when you showed
fear, but trouble doubled-down when you lied about being afraid."
"Pulse-pounding," "edge-of-your-seat,"
"unputdownable"—these cliches are all on the no-no list for book
reviewers, but what's a reviewer to do when those are the words that best describe a
novel? Well, she gets off her literary high horse. This pulse-pounding,
edge-of-your-seat, unputdownable thriller is about Jace, the teenage witness to
a crime; the evil brothers hellbent on stopping him from talking; and their
crazy cat-and-mouse game that plays out in the Montana backwoods.” – Reader’s Digest
“Not only does its plot sizzle with one shocking turn after another; it
also involves a massive forest fire so vividly described you almost expect the
edges of the pages to be scorched…Koryta builds the book's suspense with impressive
skill, shifting among different characters' points of view to keep the reader
constantly on edge.” —Tampa Bay Times
“[A] heartpounder.” —People
“[A] taut novel brimming with violence, terror, and (just as scary) the
perils of growing up.” —O, The Oprah Magazine
“Having joined the ranks of
the very best thriller writers with his small-town masterpiece, The Prophet
(2012), Koryta matches that effort with a book of sometimes-unbearable tension…this
novel is brilliantly orchestrated. Also crucial to its success is Koryta's
mastery of the beautiful but threatening setting, including a mountain fire's
ability to electrify the ground, radiate a lethal force field—and create
otherworldly light shows. Summer reading doesn't get better than this.” —Kirkus
(starred review)
“A fast-paced, terrifically
entertaining novel.…The Blackwell brothers’ devious methods, the fire raging
across the mountains, and the actions of those trying to save Jace will keep
readers up well into the night.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“Koryta,
a widely praised veteran of cross-genre tales, has upped his game with this
stand-alone’s seamless blend of western-wilderness thriller and mainstream
crime fiction, with a prickly dab of horror.”
—Booklist
(starred review)
“It’s an eerie setting with palpable threats at every
turn, one that plays out somewhere between Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for
Old Men and David Mamet’s screenplay for The Edge.” —Clayton Moore, Kirkus Reviews
Outstanding in every way, and a guaranteed thriller of
the year.…Stephen King would be proud of the set up, Cormac McCarthy would be
proud of the writing, and I would be proud of the action. Don’t you dare
miss it.” —Lee Child, #1 bestselling author of NEVER GO BACK
“Warning: Michael Koryta’s
wonderful, riveting, and harrowing THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD may
just move you to tears. Enjoy at your own risk.” —Harlan Coben, #1
bestselling author of SIX YEARS
“Reading Michael Koryta is like stepping into fast water.
You don’t know where the current will take you, only that it’s strong and deep
and likely to sweep you away.” —John Hart, New York Times bestselling author of IRON HOUSE
“Absolutely breathtaking, nail-biting, and
edge-of-your-seat. Michael Koryta is a master at maintaining suspense and
a hell of a good writer. THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD is one of the best
chase-and-escape novels you’ll read this year—or any other year. The pace never
lets up.” —Nelson DeMille, New York
Times bestselling author of THE QUEST
“Michael Koryta is that rare author who is at once a
compelling storyteller and a fantastic writer. From the first sentence of THOSE
WHO WISH ME DEAD, you’ll be under his spell. This is an absolute sizzler.” —Lisa
Unger, New York Times bestselling
author of IN THE BLOOD
“Michael Koryta’s THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD is an absolutely
thrilling read. I read most of it with my breath held, occasionally exhaling to
ask myself, ‘What will happen next?’ I highly recommend it.” —Kevin Powers,
author of the National Book Award–nominated THE YELLOW BIRDS
“Michael Koryta isn’t just one of the finest authors
working in the crime genre today. He’s simply one of today’s finest authors,
period. THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD is Koryta at his best.” —William Kent
Krueger, New York Times bestselling
author ORDINARY GRACE
“Wow! An absolutely first-rate novel. THOSE WHO WISH
ME DEAD is what every reader hopes for each time they start a book.” —Christopher
Reich, New York Times bestselling
author of RULES OF DECEPTION
