Book
Westside : a novel / W.M. Akers.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780062853998
- Physical Description: 291 pages : map ; 23 cm
- Publisher: New York : Harper Voyager, 2019.
- Copyright: ©2019
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Manhattan (New York, N.Y.) > History > 20th century > Fiction. |
| Genre: | Mystery fiction. |
Available copies
- 7 of 8 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Vanderhoof Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 8 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanderhoof Public Library | AF AKE (Text) | 35193000352189 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2019 May #1
*Starred Review* A fence divides Manhattan into the prosperous Eastside and the dangerous Westside. Westside has always been the place where strange, almost supernatural occurrences happen. When people start to disappear, residents worry, but the authorities do nothing. Longtime Westside resident Gilda Carr specializes in "tiny mysteries." When she is approached by society lady Edith Copeland to find the match to the glove she lost, Gilda takes the case. Little does she know that this tiny mystery will lead her to the discovery of a shadowy underworld, multiple attempts on her life, and the possible answer to her father's disappearance. Akers has created a believable alternateâ1920s New York City, full of bootleggers, jazz babies, and corrupt cops as well as some potentially supernatural creatures. The villains are larger than life but believably human in their greed and selfishness. Like the best reluctant heroes, Gilda is as quick with a quip as she is with her trigger finger. Full of action and colorful characters, this genre mash-up is expertly done and will be enjoyed by fans of mysteries and fantasy alike. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2019 April #1
Akers' debut novel is an addictively readable fusion of mystery, dark fantasy, alternate history, and existential horror. Gilda Carr is a 27-year-old private investigator living on the Westside of a 1921 Manhattan that is divided by miles of barbed-wire fence running down Broadway. The heavily guarded partition separates the Eastside from its otherworldly neighbor to the west, where thousands of people have inexplicably vanished over the years and strange occurrencesâlike disappearing doorways in homesâhave become commonplace. Carr specializes in solving "tiny mysteries," but when she agrees to find a woman's lost leather glove she becomes entangled in a much largerâand more dangerousâmystery, involving ruthless crime lords, bootlegged moonshine, and a looming turf war that could kill hundreds. Carr's own missing fatherâa legendary brawler-turned-NYPD detectiveâis strangely connected to many of the key players. As the fearless Carr uncovers more secrets, she also begins to understand what happened to her presumably dead fatherâand why. The seamless blend ing of genre elements creates a fresh and unpredictable narrative, but the real power here comes from Akers' focus on description throughout. Masterful worldbuilding, character development, and attention to dark atmospherics make for a fully immersive read in which even secondary characters are memorable. An elevator operator, for example is portrayed as having "skin the color of raw kielbasa," and the elevator ride to a hotel's penthouse is powered by sublime imagery: "[Jazz] music echoed down the elevator shaft like far-off gunsâintoxicating, dangerous, and impossible to resist." The cast of deeply developed characters and the richly envisioned setting are perfectly complemented by a breakneck-paced and action-packed storyline. It's like a literary shot of Prohibition-era rotgut moonshineâbracing, quite possibly hallucination-inducing, and unlike anything you've ever experienced before. The illegitimate love child of Algernon Blackwood and Raymond Chandler. Copyright Kirkus 2019 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - LJ Express Reviews : LJ Express Reviews
[DEBUT] In this searing amalgamation of historical fiction, urban fantasy, and outright horror, Prohibition-era Manhattan has been forcibly split into two very separate cities. Bright, shining, prosperous Eastside and walled-off Westside, a haven for horrors, where the dark is hungry and people vanish into the shadows, never to return. Gilda Carr, investigator of "tiny mysteries," begins searching for a lost glove and ends up unearthing the dark secret behind her father's disappearance, as well as the shadowed cause of everything that has gone wrong in her home. Bringing that secret into the torchlight will force her to bring out her own unquiet deadâand bring her city either an uneasy peace or a final fall into the long night. Carr's quest to discover the truth she's been hiding from herself is darkly mesmerizing, as is her city. She walks in fear, and we follow her every tortured step of the way. VERDICT Westside is a dark, twisted, hellish reflection of New York City. It's an underworld where everything rots, including the people. Highly recommended for those who love the darkest of fantasy and those looking for alternate history with a creepy twist of the fantastic. [See Prepub Alert, 11/19/18.]âMarlene Harris, Reading Reality, LLC, Duluth, GA (c) Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2019 March #4
Set in an alternate 1920s Manhattan where a 13-mile fence divides the thriving Eastside from a nightmarish Westside, Akers's highly entertaining debut introduces Gilda Carr, a street-savvy PI. A Westsider, Gilda specializes in solving "tiny mysteries," but her search for a woman's missing glove leads her straight into the center of a looming war and offers up clues that could resolve such troubling issues as what magic is turning the Westside into a living hell, where thousands of people have disappeared and landscapes change overnight, and what happened to her father, a legendary gang leader turned cop who vanished years earlier. A cast of meticulously developed and memorable characters as well as strong worldbuilding and atmospherics more than compensate for the sometimes flimsy supernatural thread. Memorable prose is a plus ("The white lights of Broadway shimmered through the gin like gasoline in gutter water"). Fans of genre-bending fiction will relish this inventive mix of mystery and the paranormal.
Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly.Agent: Sharon Pelletier, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (May)
