Engrossing….[t]he characters are drawn in vivid detail, and the atmosphere is thickly enveloping.” — New York Times
“A classic page-turner that would make a fine companion to a towel and beach chair, but also delves deeper into modern paranoia regarding money, class and sexuality.” — Newsday
“A gorgeously written book whose literary chops are beyond doubt. Come for the prose, and stay for the murders.” — USA Today
“This is beach reading that’s as intelligent as it is absorbing.” — People
“Thrilling and suspenseful with subtle shots of hijinks hilarity, this book will have you feeling like you can’t possibly turn the pages fast enough.” — Elle.com
“Bollen keeps you guessing until the end of this intriguing, fatalistic novel.” — Miami Herald
“…a book of real intelligence and line-by-line dexterity…” — Chicago Tribune
“…a seductive new literary thriller….Orient is a novel of sophisticated malice filled with people we love to loathe, and all the better for it.” — New York Daily
“The test of a thriller is arguably in the resolution, and Orient’s is satisfyingly tense. The guessing game takes in the whole community, all well-drawn, and all with motives to kill…” — Financial Times
“Bollen takes a real place—the North Folk of Long Island—and weaves a mesmerizing fictional web of characters and mysteries into a story that is as viscerally thrilling as it is intellectually precise.” — BookPage
“The writer keeps us guessing about the perpetrator(s) behind the murders until the last chapter, but it is the placement of the story in such a well-detailed, realistic environment that separates Orient from most other books in the genre.” — CT News
Advance Praise for Orient
“The quaint seaside village of Orient is not as pleasant as it seems, and Christopher Bollen will hold you spellbound as he reveals its secrets. A truly well-crafted and literate murder mystery that recalls the worlds of both P.D. James and Twin Peaks.” — Nelson DeMille
“Orient is a compelling novel of tragic suspense. Bollen has a gift for tightly drawn characters and an ominous sense of place.” — A. M. Homes
“The Great Gatsby meets Donna Tartt. Suspenseful, beautifully written, and wonderfully atmospheric, Orient is that rare treat that is both a page-turner and a book you will want to savor.” — Philipp Meyer
“Orient is a taut and elegant suspense novel about strangers and strangeness, suspicion and forgiveness, reinvention and confession.” — Joshua Ferris, author of To Rise Again At A Decent Hour
…a book of real intelligence and line-by-line dexterity…
A gorgeously written book whose literary chops are beyond doubt. Come for the prose, and stay for the murders.
A classic page-turner that would make a fine companion to a towel and beach chair, but also delves deeper into modern paranoia regarding money, class and sexuality.
Bollen keeps you guessing until the end of this intriguing, fatalistic novel.
…a seductive new literary thriller….Orient is a novel of sophisticated malice filled with people we love to loathe, and all the better for it.
The test of a thriller is arguably in the resolution, and Orient’s is satisfyingly tense. The guessing game takes in the whole community, all well-drawn, and all with motives to kill…
This is beach reading that’s as intelligent as it is absorbing.
Bollen takes a real place—the North Folk of Long Island—and weaves a mesmerizing fictional web of characters and mysteries into a story that is as viscerally thrilling as it is intellectually precise.
Engrossing….[t]he characters are drawn in vivid detail, and the atmosphere is thickly enveloping.
Thrilling and suspenseful with subtle shots of hijinks hilarity, this book will have you feeling like you can’t possibly turn the pages fast enough.
The test of a thriller is arguably in the resolution, and Orient’s is satisfyingly tense. The guessing game takes in the whole community, all well-drawn, and all with motives to kill…
…a book of real intelligence and line-by-line dexterity…
Bollen keeps you guessing until the end of this intriguing, fatalistic novel.
A gorgeously written book whose literary chops are beyond doubt. Come for the prose, and stay for the murders.
Orient is a compelling novel of tragic suspense. Bollen has a gift for tightly drawn characters and an ominous sense of place.
Advance Praise for Orient
“The quaint seaside village of Orient is not as pleasant as it seems, and Christopher Bollen will hold you spellbound as he reveals its secrets. A truly well-crafted and literate murder mystery that recalls the worlds of both P.D. James and Twin Peaks.
The Great Gatsby meets Donna Tartt. Suspenseful, beautifully written, and wonderfully atmospheric, Orient is that rare treat that is both a page-turner and a book you will want to savor.
The writer keeps us guessing about the perpetrator(s) behind the murders until the last chapter, but it is the placement of the story in such a well-detailed, realistic environment that separates Orient from most other books in the genre.
Orient is a taut and elegant suspense novel about strangers and strangeness, suspicion and forgiveness, reinvention and confession.
03/23/2015
An affluent Long Island town is the setting for secret affairs and multiple murders in Bollen’s big and ambitious second novel (after Lightning People). The catalyst for all of these misdeeds is a young “foster-care kid” named Mills Chevern, who finds a surrogate mother in Beth Shepherd, lifelong resident and failed artist. When local handyman Jeff Trader washes up on shore with a rope around his neck, foul play is suspected. Adding fuel to the fire is a big creepy creature, resembling a whale but black and disfigured so as to be unrecognizable, found on a beach. Locals connect these events to suspected nefarious doings by the Orient Historical Board and a nearby chemical plant. Wealthy dowager Magdalena convinces Beth to check out Jeff’s place for evidence of murder; when she visits the old woman to report what she’s found, she learns that Magdalena is dead. Beth begins investigating in earnest, with Mills as her wingman. Bollen is at his best when incisively depicting the self-delusions and prejudices of this remote community. Though packed with plot, this expansive novel falls a bit flat when all’s said and done. Agent: Bill Clegg, the Clegg Agency. (May)
Heightened, poignant, and mysterious. . . Bollen’s atmospheric tale of post-9/11 New York has more twists and toxicity than the venemous snakes Del cares for at the Bronx Zoo. . . his frantic characters are alluring, his writing ravishing, and his insights trenchant.
Bollen excels at creating an atmosphere of Manhattan-specific dread, and certain scenes, particularly the account of a struggling actor’s going-away party, are tragicomic masterpieces.
Orient is a compelling novel of tragic suspense. Bollen has a gift for tightly drawn characters and an ominous sense of place.
Praise for Lightning People:.“Ambitious. . . a nervy debut illuminated by flashes of insight.
04/01/2015
If you can't afford the Hamptons then Orient, a historic town on the North Fork of Long Island, may be just the place for you. It's quaint, seaside-adjacent, and a short drive to the city. But the influx of artists and Manhattan transplants has resulted in a culture clash with the longtime residents that just may have led to murder. Paul Benchley, a New York architect and longtime resident, rescued young Mills Chevern from a life on the streets and employed him to declutter his parents' old home. Gossip abounds about Mills, and when a local handyman and a beloved local activist are found dead, followed by a tragic case of arson, Mills is the immediate suspect. With the help of Paul's neighbor Beth, Mills sets out to solve the crimes and clear his name. But sleuthing in a small, close-knit community isn't so easy. People are tight-lipped and justifiably scared with a murderer in their midst. They fear drops in property values as much as the threat to their own lives. Suddenly, a deadly encounter rocks the town and gives Mills and Beth much to confront. VERDICT After a slow start, this debut novel ramps up to a breathless, well-crafted thriller with a thoughtfully drawn setting and a believable cast of characters who work their way to a shocking ending.—Susan Clifford Braun, Bainbridge Island, WA
★ 2015-03-05
Art, money, and ill intent collide in Interview magazine editor Bollen's (Lightning People, 2011) sophomore novel. Mills Chevern ("You know by now that Mills Chevern isn't my real name") arrives in Orient, on the North Fork of Long Island, as an adolescent drifter. He leaves a somewhat more established figure in the community, both suspect and savior. What happens in between is the subject of all kinds of speculation in Bollen's leisurely yarn, for his arrival coincides with a rash of murders in the placid community, a haven for the well-to-do and a slew of real estate agents, developers, and artists ("the sex was miserable, but they were artists who craved misery") who depend on those richies for their livelihoods. One, Beth, a native of the place with an intimate knowledge of where all the previous bodies are buried, so to speak, takes Mills in, courting the bad temper of a memorable Romanian artist who serves as a kind of Greek chorus to the later proceedings, growling and grumping. As the bodies mount, the huge pool of suspects begins to dwindle somewhat, for everyone, it seems, has a reason to kill; as Mills laments, "How can that detective suspect me when all these people had a motive?" Given all the possibilities, the identity of the real killer, in a nicely paced tale that unfolds deliberately over the course of 600 pages, is a nice surprise. Bollen could have chosen to sneer, scold, and satirize, for, he lets us know, at least some of the victims had it coming. But he mostly plays it straight—except, that is, for the moments of perilous same-sex entanglement, reminiscent of the best of Patricia Highsmith. And no one emerges unscathed from the gossipy tale, full of crossed storylines and small-town malice; Bollen has a real talent for summarizing character with zingers that nicely punctuate the story: "‘I love you too,' she said, chain-rolling and chain-smoking her cigarettes, a one-woman factory, her mouth a purple waste-management vent." Skillfully written, with delightful malice aforethought.
