The Watcher: A Novel
By (Author) Jennifer Pashley
Crooked Lane Books
Crooked Lane Books
8th December 2020
29th September 2020
United States
General
Fiction
813.6
Hardback
288
Width 162mm, Height 242mm
From the award-winning author of The Scamp, Jennifer Pashley is back with a searing literary noir about what it means to live on the margins of society and what happens when no one is watching... From the award-winning author of The Scamp, Jennifer Pashley is back with a searing literary noir about what it means to live on the margins of society and what happens when no one is watching... Pearl Jenkins is a nobody. She was a woman who lived as a hermit in the woods. One day, she's nowhere to be found, and all that's left behind is a pool of blood and a child no one knew existed, raised completely off the grid and in the grip of Pearl's manic paranoia. Kateri Fisher is used to being an outsider. Now, she's the only female detective in the tiny upstate New York town of Spring Falls, where everyone knows everyone, but no one will talk. It's fitting that she takes the case that no one else wants. But as Kateri struggles to navigate the harsh rules of a new town while trying to learn the truth about the Jenkins family, only one thing becomes clear- neither she nor Pearl are as invisible as she first thought. Someone's always watching.
Pashley is an excellent prose stylist and a compelling storyteller, but the triumph of this novel, The Watcher, is her ability to create beautifully drawn characters.
Lambda Literary
A solid start to this new series . . . Well placed twists and turns keep the reader engaged.
Red Carpet Crash
Pashley's seamless, yet meticulous writing pulls the reader into the bleak world of rural upstate New York . . . Atmospheric and dark, yet emotionally compelling, The Watcher is simply phenomenal on all counts. Jennifer Pashley is nothing short of a rising star.
Wendy Walker, bestselling author of All is Not Forgotten and Emma in the Night
The Watcher is a taut literary thriller about desperation, desire, and what people are capable of when theyve got nothing left to lose. Pashleys masterful prose makes your heart ache and your pulse pound for every single character populating this chilly, unforgivingand unforgettableworld.
Layne Fargo, author of Temper
The characters in The Watcher will rip your heart out . . . There is hope at the heart of this novel, and also redemption and justice. Youll find yourself reading faster to discover what happens next and slowing down to wallow in the beautiful prose. Pashley writes about the people on the fringes of society with clear-eyed compassion and grace. Its a gift.
Tiffany Quay Tyson, award-winning author of The Past is Never
Do not miss this dark and gorgeously told mystery that combines both the literary and noir. I was completely enthralled . . . You will not be able to turn away from The Watcher.
Vanessa Lillie, Amazon bestselling author of Little Voices and For the Best
Jennifer Pashley is the award-winning author of two short story collections, States, and The Conjurer, and a novel, The Scamp. Her stories have appeared widely in journals like Mississippi Review, PANK, and SmokeLong Quarterly, and she has been awarded the Red Hen Prize for Fiction, the Mississippi Review Prize for fiction, and the Carve Magazine Esoteric Award for LGBT Fiction.