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Table of Contents
About The Book
Named one of the best books of 2018 by NPR
The “delicious and addictive” (Salon) Claire DeWitt series returns with a thrilling, noirish knockout of a novel that follows three separate narratives starring the self-proclaimed “world’s greatest detective.” As Cara Hoffman, author of Running, says, this “is a hard-boiled, existential masterpiece.”
Claire DeWitt, the world’s best private detective, wakes up one dark night in an ambulance in Oakland: someone has just tried to murder her. But she’s not dead. Not yet.
More sure of herself than of the police, Claire follows the clues on a 52-hour odyssey through shimmering Las Vegas and the shabby surrounding desert to find out who wants her dead. But in order to save herself, Claire will have to revisit her own complicated past as she navigates the present: a past of childhood obsessions, rival detectives, lost friends, and mysteries mostly—but not always—solved.
Three intertwining stories illuminate three eras of Claire’s life: her early years as an ambitious girl detective in Brooklyn (before it was gentrified), which ended when her best friend and partner in crime-solving disappeared; a case of an unexplained death in the art world of late-1990s Los Angeles, when, devastated by the demise of her mentor in New Orleans, Claire was forced to start again; and her current quest to save her own life from a determined assassin.
As the connections between the stories come into focus, the truth becomes clear. But Claire, battered and bruised, will never quit her search for the answer to the biggest mystery of all: how can anyone survive in a world so clearly designed to break our hearts?
The “delicious and addictive” (Salon) Claire DeWitt series returns with a thrilling, noirish knockout of a novel that follows three separate narratives starring the self-proclaimed “world’s greatest detective.” As Cara Hoffman, author of Running, says, this “is a hard-boiled, existential masterpiece.”
Claire DeWitt, the world’s best private detective, wakes up one dark night in an ambulance in Oakland: someone has just tried to murder her. But she’s not dead. Not yet.
More sure of herself than of the police, Claire follows the clues on a 52-hour odyssey through shimmering Las Vegas and the shabby surrounding desert to find out who wants her dead. But in order to save herself, Claire will have to revisit her own complicated past as she navigates the present: a past of childhood obsessions, rival detectives, lost friends, and mysteries mostly—but not always—solved.
Three intertwining stories illuminate three eras of Claire’s life: her early years as an ambitious girl detective in Brooklyn (before it was gentrified), which ended when her best friend and partner in crime-solving disappeared; a case of an unexplained death in the art world of late-1990s Los Angeles, when, devastated by the demise of her mentor in New Orleans, Claire was forced to start again; and her current quest to save her own life from a determined assassin.
As the connections between the stories come into focus, the truth becomes clear. But Claire, battered and bruised, will never quit her search for the answer to the biggest mystery of all: how can anyone survive in a world so clearly designed to break our hearts?
About The Author
Eliza Gran
Sara Gran is the author of Saturn’s Return to New York, Come Closer, Dope, as well as two previous novels featuring Claire DeWitt. Her work has been published in more than a dozen countries. Born in Brooklyn, Sara lived in New York City until 2004. She now lives in Los Angeles and has a successful career writing for television.
Why We Love It
An utterly original and ingenious novel that hit me like a bolt of lightning…I fell hard for Claire DeWitt, the heavy-drinking, trouble making, self-medicating, self-destructing private investigator. In the end, Claire is looking to solve the ultimate mystery-how are we meant to live on this planet when everything around us is clearly designed to break our hearts? —Peter B., VP, Editor in Chief on The Infinite Blacktop
Product Details
- Publisher: Atria Books (September 18, 2018)
- Length: 304 pages
- ISBN13: 9781501165733
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Raves and Reviews
"A completely original hybrid of mystery, thriller, contemporary noir, dark comedy and postmodern meditation about what it means to be a detective."
– The New York Times
"A singular mystery experience...Claire DeWitt is one part Auguste Dupin, one part Jack Kerouac-type "Dharma Bum" and allover nasty woman on a mission."
– Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post
"A thriller that is no ordinary, by-the-book crime procedural."
– The Associated Press
“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)
"A wonderful mystery, packed with unexpected gems of truth and humor and beauty, that reminded me of why I love reading fiction."
– Chris Pavone, author of The Expats
"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
"I turned to Claire DeWitt when I was down and she gave me a week to remember that there is always a way onwards."
– Mark Z. Danielewski, author of House of Leaves
“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
“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
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- Book Cover Image (jpg): The Infinite Blacktop eBook 9781501165733
- Author Photo (jpg): Sara Gran Eliza Gran(0.1 MB)
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