The Singer's Gun

Anton Wakers life falls apart almost overnight. A successful businessman, newly married, finds himself harshly reeled back into his unsavory past. A past filled with illegal activities laced tightly together between his family and himself. A blackmailer insists he pull off one final job. Meanwhile, he is being investigated for fraud and other questionable activities by the government. Anton must make a heart wrenching decision. I flew through the pages to find out what it was and if he made it out intact. Highly Recommend. Beautiful, intelligent writing throughout. Elkinson-wiseowl 2010

I really enjoyed this book. The author's description of the settings takes your right to where she is. This book has it all right from the beginning, mystery and intrigue. You cannot wait to turn the page to find out what will be next. I highly recommend this book, it is not loaded down with alot of characters which I really like in a book.

In Emily St. John Mandel's new book, The Singer's Gun, Anton Waker has found himself in trouble, without a possible way out. Anton thought he was finally done with the business of illegal dealings and shady transactions, but when his cousin comes to him with one more job, and the blackmail to force his hand, Anton finds himself once again in over his head. Anton's carefully constructed life hangs on the edge and things take an unexpected turn, he's forced to choose between a life that he made for himself or the one that's thrown upon him. Will he make it out alive, and if so at what cost? This is Emily St. John Mandel's second novel, and I've had the pleasure of reading both of her books. Her writing talent and impressive skill once more shine again. She has proven that her first novel wasn't just a fluke and she is definitely an author I'll keep reading. Again, Mandel jumped from past to present in this novel and it worked beautifully. The shifts in time were never uncomfortable and they flowed beautifully. I loved this novel even more than her first. The story was interesting and detailed and I was pulled into it immediately. I read The Singer's Gun all in one sitting because I just could not bear to pull myself away. I loved the main character, Anton. He was extremely personable and I felt the struggles he went through were believable and realistic. Emily St. John Mandel has won me again, and The Singer's Gun is something that everyone must read. Review originally posted on my blog Draw A Blank. Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Unbridled Books. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Emily St. John Mandel's The Singer's Gun opens on an investigation. A woman working for the State Department is listening over and over to a snippet of conversation recorded 15 days earlier--a few words only, confirmation of a job completed, nothing much. It's not clear for a long while how the recording fits into what follows. And what follows is an exploration of why Anton Waker abandoned his wife on their honeymoon and is now sitting alone on the island of Ischia, off the coast of Naples, biding his time and missing his one-eyed cat. Eventually all is made clear: the layers of Anton's life are slowly peeled away in chapters that explore his unusual childhood, the strange circumstances of his employment, his adversarial relationship with his cousin. Nothing in Anton's life is quite what it looks like on the surface. Any guess we may have initially about the reasons for his wait on Ischia would be wrong. Anton is a complex character who's been living in a world that doesn't fit him. He's disturbed by his environment but doesn't break away from it given the opportunity, and he in fact participates in activities he doesn't quite approve of. The book thus introduces questions about what constitutes moral behavior and about personal responsibility. While it is by no means a fast-paced thriller, the book does become a tense read toward the end, and it is always compelling. Anton's situation--the wait on Ischia, and more so his being warehoused at work prior to his honeymoon--is so strange that you can't but read on for the answers. St. John Mandel's second book--see my review of Last Night in Montreal--is another winner. -- Debra Hamel

To some degree or another, we all live in a caste society. The Singer's Gun offers us an antidote: If you cleave with all your might to your own deepest nature, the rewards will be -- goddamned Mediterranean in nature. This is not your soulless Horatio Alger dogged overcoming-of-obstacles; it is the transformative oomph of the personal lodestone. When coupled with shady imports, felonious forgery, a skewering look at illegal immigration -- and of course Emily St. John Mandel's sly prose -- The Singer's Gun becomes a passport out of -- well, whatever the reader happens to be mired in at the moment of that reading. And a passport -- as we learn in all of Mandel's work -- is a *very* valuable thing.