Big If
Will be published approx. on 10. March 2005
Book
Paperback/Softback
336 pages
978-1-84354-218-6 (ISBN)
Description
With Felker on the loose, the election just days away, and family traumas abounding can they guard the life of the Vice-President.
The stories of three people who guard the life of the Vice-President of the United States. Their problems multiply when their chief, Felker, realizes that he is better at planning attacks than foiling them, and disappears. While the team struggles to protect the V.P. and discover the whereabouts of their most dangerous threat, they must also contend with their unravelling personal lives.
Costello seamlessly interlaces the team's burgeoning troubles. Big If juggles assassination threats with school runs, and political victories with growing personal crises. It is a gripping, giddying, utterly original novel that will exhilarate and unnerve its readers.
'While many other writers only dream of achieving greatness, Mark Costello's work should have been born with the words "Great American Novel" stamped on the front.' --Economist, Books of the Year
The stories of three people who guard the life of the Vice-President of the United States. Their problems multiply when their chief, Felker, realizes that he is better at planning attacks than foiling them, and disappears. While the team struggles to protect the V.P. and discover the whereabouts of their most dangerous threat, they must also contend with their unravelling personal lives.
Costello seamlessly interlaces the team's burgeoning troubles. Big If juggles assassination threats with school runs, and political victories with growing personal crises. It is a gripping, giddying, utterly original novel that will exhilarate and unnerve its readers.
'While many other writers only dream of achieving greatness, Mark Costello's work should have been born with the words "Great American Novel" stamped on the front.' --Economist, Books of the Year
Reviews / Votes
'Mark Costello's fine second novel... should further convince readers that it was a happy day when he decided to stop prosecuting individual criminals and instead put all of America in the dock.' Guardian 'A fine and highly enjoyable novel... the stuff of good fiction.' Daily Telegraph 'A triumphant second novel' Independent 'He charts the entropic motion of American society... as if he were a Pynchon or DeLillo' Independent on Sunday 'It's a masterly performance... Franzen and David Foster Wallace are welcoming him deservedly into the highest echelon (under-50s division) of American fiction.' John Dugdale, Sunday Times 'While many other writers only dream of achieving greatness, Mark Costello's work should have been born with the words "Great American Novel" stamped on the front.' Economist Books of the Year 'I love this stuff - It's inventive' Time Out Book of the Week 'Like every writer of real distinction, Mark Costello stakes out territory which, until his arrival, you would never have guessed it was vital to read about immediately... Costello sure-handedly captures the uncertainties of our times.' Jonathan Franzen, author of The CorrectionsMore details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 131 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
310 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84354-218-6 (9781843542186)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Mark Costello worked as a Federal Prosecutor for five years before writing his first novel, Bag Men.