The Infinite Blacktop: A Claire DeWitt Novel

✍ Scribed by Gran, Sara

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Year: 2019
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 196 KB
• Edition: First Washington Square Press / Atria Paperback edition September 2019
• Category: Fiction
• City: New York London Toronto Sydney New Delhi Washington Square Press 2019
• ISBN: 1501165712

✦ Synopsis

Driven off the desert road and left for dead, Claire DeWitt has to think fast to avoid the cops who arrive first on the scene. Making a break for it, she sets off in search of the person who tried to kill her, and the reasons why. But perhaps the biggest mystery of all lies deeper than that, somewhere out there on the ever rolling highway of life.

Set between modern day Las Vegas and LA, The Infinite Blacktop sees 'the best detective in the world' wounded and disorientated, but just about standing.

**

Review

Advance Praise for The Infinite Blacktop

“There's a fascinating echo in these pages of classic LA noir detective fiction from the age of Hammett and Chandler...you'll be charmed by this eccentric, enticingly artful mystery.” (Kirkus (starred review))

“Bold and stunning…mixing classic tropes of teen detective fiction with elements of eastern philosophy and a profound sense of the absurd, Gran takes readers on an unforgettable journey.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review))

"Sara Gran’s latest is a total delight. Infinite Blacktop is as captivating as it is unusual, an alchemical mixture of not one but three mysteries, scattered across time and America, all centered around the badass and deeply damaged Claire DeWitt, whose unconventional, unceasing, irrational mode of detection is like nothing else in crime fiction." (Ben Winters, author of Underground Airlines )

“A marvel of a novel, one that combines the mysteries of seemingly unsolvable crimes and the deeper mysteries of the human heart. Written with both a vivid edge and heartfelt compassion, The Infinite Blacktop is one of the most exciting books of the year.” (Jeff Abbott, author of Blame and Adrenaline )

“Sara Gran’s Infinite Blacktop is a hard-boiled, existential masterpiece. There’s no detective as skilled or as strange as Claire Dewitt; mouse-whisperer, slumming angel, gnostic disciple. She always wins the day. Sara Gran is simply peerless.”
(Cara Hoffman, author of Running and So Much Pretty )

“Metaphysical, gritty . . . . Looks at the larger mysteries of life, love, and identity.” (Library Journal)

PRAISE FOR SARA GRAN’S CLAIRE DEWITT NOVELS

“The most interesting private eye I’ve encountered since Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander….Gran presents an unflinching, heartfelt portrait of the way many women of her generation have lived their lives: speeding down the fast lane… A fascinating read.”

(The Washington Post)

“Delicious and addictive.” (Salon)

“Reads . . . as if David Lynch directed a Raymond Chandler novel.” (CNN)

“If Haruki Murakami wrote The Wire, it would come out something like Sara Gran; cryptic, dreamy, funny and gritty as hell. She's a phenomenal talent. Claire DeWitt is an unreliable detective unlike any other.”
(Lauren Beukes, author of The Shining Girls )

“Beautifully written in a tight, quirky style that distinguishes Gran as one of the more original writers working today.”
(Associated Press)

“The title character is the summer’s most original new detective: part Lisbeth Salander, part Veronica Mars.” (Hollywood Reporter)

“The hard-living, wisecracking titular detective bounces around post-Katrina New Orleans trying to track down a missing prosecutor in this auspicious debut of a new mystery series—and the Big Easy is every bit her equal in sass and flavor.” (Elle)

“Reminds me why I fell in love with the genre.” (Laura Lippman )

“Terrific, I love this book! Absolutely love it. This is the first fresh literary voice I’ve heard in years. Sara Gran recombines all the elements of good, solid story-telling and lifts something original from a well-loved form." (Sue Grafton )

“What would you get if that punkish dragon girl Lisbeth Salander met up with Jim Sallis’s Lew Griffin walking the back streets of New Orleans? Or Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone transformed herself into a tattooed magnolia driving a 4x4? Clare DeWitt, that’s what you’d get . . . DeWitt’s mesmerizing character and memorable voice take your breath away.” (New Orleans Times-Picayune)

“Claire is a charmer.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“Mesmeric. . . cerebral, weirdly fascinating, and unlike any other crime novel you’ll read." (The Guardian (UK))

“Gran writes in the hard-boiled staccato style of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, updated for the angst-ridden, drug-dependent sad souls of the 21st century. It works brilliantly….The winning formula Gran has hit upon combines an appreciation for the history of her genre (there are echoes not only of noir classics but also The Rockford Files and the Charlie Chan mysteries) and a contemporary grittiness.” (The Independent (UK))

"An irresistible blend of quirky philosophical quests, gritty fight scenes, and painful truths...in noir-tinted California." (Booklist (starred review))

About the Author

Sara Gran is the author of five critically acclaimed novels, including Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead, Come Closer and Dope. She also writes for film and TV, including 'Southland' and 'Chance', and has published in The New York Times, The New Orleans Times Picayune, and USA Today.

✦ Subjects

Murder -- Investigation