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- Pages592
- ISBN9781612195148
- Publication dateMay, 2016
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The Mirror Thief
Martin Seay
A big book in every sense: big themes, big characters, and big stories, by a writer with big talent . . . A compulsively readable, complicated, fascinating novel that richly deserves comparison to the works of Umberto Eco, David Mitchell, and Vladimir Nabokov. —Mary Wolf, Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse
A globetrotting, time-bending, wildly entertaining literary masterpiece in the tradition of Cloud Atlas.
One of the most audacious and confident debuts in years, The Mirror Thief is a masterful puzzle: a genre-hopping novel that combines an intricate, fast-paced mystery with serious literary ambition. Set in three cities in three eras, The Mirror Thief calls to mind David Mitchell and Umberto Eco in its serendipitous mix of entertainment and literary merit.
The core story is set in Venice in the sixteenth century, when the famed makers of Venetian glass were perfecting one of the old world’s most wondrous inventions: the mirror. An object of glittering yet fearful fascination — was it reflecting simple reality, or something more spiritually revealing? — the Venetian mirrors were state of the art technology, and subject to industrial espionage by desirous sultans and royals world-wide. But for any of the development team to leave the island was a crime punishable by death. One man, however — a world-weary war hero with nothing to lose — has a scheme he thinks will allow him to outwit the city’s terrifying enforcers of the edict, the ominous Council of Ten …
Meanwhile, in two other iterations of Venice — Venice Beach, California, circa 1958, and the Venice casino in Las Vegas, circa today — two other schemers launch similarly dangerous plans to get away with a secret ….
All three stories will weave together into a spell-binding tour-de-force that is impossible to put down — an old-fashioned, stay-up-all-night novel that, in the end, returns the reader to a stunning conclusion in the original Venice … and the bedazzled sense of having read a truly original and thrilling work of literary art.
”Martin Seay’s thrilling debut novel dazzles at every turn. Unexpected and amazing, The Mirror Thief will leave readers breathless.”
—Jeremy Ellis, Brazos Bookstore
”Matched in its ambition only by its accomplishment. This literary, noir thriller–drenched in grit, paranoia, and desperation–pulls the reader inexorably through a Russian doll of mysteries that span centuries and cultures. One hell of a debut novel.” —Chris Phipps, Diesel Oakland
”WOW! This novel is brilliant. It has that breathless quality, the kind that envelops the reader — a force so consuming, one leaves one’s daily life and enters another space with lasting effect!” —Sheryl Cotleur, Copperfield’s Books
”What a bravura piece of writing! . . . What a feast of a book!” —Greg Berry, Elliott Bay Book Company
”Kaleidoscopic and utterly unique, this thrilling literary novel brims with danger and atmosphere and will undoubtedly be one of the literary events of 2016.” —Stan Hynds, Northshire Bookstore
”A big book in every sense: big themes, big characters, and big stories, by a writer with big talent … A compulsively readable, complicated, fascinating novel that richly deserves comparison to the works of Umberto Eco, David Mitchell, and Vladimir Nabokov.” —Mary Wolf, Collected Works Bookstore & Cafe
”A debut novel of astounding ambition and achievement. Genre-defying in the vein of Pynchon and Stephenson, Seay’s book amazes and enthralls . . . A feat of publishing that will appeal to a wide range of readers.” —Kevin Elliott, 57th Street Books
”An incredible feat of storytelling . . . A delicious stew of Los Angeles-type noir, Da Vinci Code mystery, Rebel Without a Cause toughness, and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance mechanical spirituality.” —Steve Salardino, Skylight Books
”A genre-spanning tour de force … Brilliant.” —Anmiryam Budner, Main Point Books
”A special book … A tremendous pleasure to read, and a book that will stay with me for quite some time.” —Ed Conklin, Chaucer’s Bookstore
