The Lemur

Starred review from May 26, 2008
In this excellent novella from Edgar-finalist Banville (Christine Falls
), John Glass, an Irish-born journalist living in New York, reluctantly accepts an offer from his father-in-law, William “Big Bill” Mulholland, to write the older man's biography for $1 million. Big Bill, a former CIA agent turned communications tycoon, is the kind of man whose secrets are matters of national security. In preparation for the project, Glass contacts Dylan Riley, a shifty researcher Glass dubs the titular lemur. Riley tries to blackmail Glass, but ends up dead before Glass can find out what “the lemur” knows. Afraid that the secret might involve his ongoing affair with fellow Irish ex-pat Alison O'Keeffe, Glass starts digging into Big Bill's past. First serialized in the New York Times Magazine
, this crime novel showcases the author's trademark dry wit, tight plotting and appealing, flawed characters. Black is the pen name of Booker Prize–winner John Banville.

June 1, 2008
Renowned journalist John Glass, known for his "passionately fashioned jeremiads" on Rwanda and Tiananmen Square, has lost his muse. In the ultimate midlife sellout, he's agreed to write the authorized biography of his father-in-law, "Big Bill" Mulholland, a former CIA operativeturnedcorporate tycoon who trusts Glass "to leave certain, overly heavy stones unturned." As Glass's last act of defiance, he hires a professional researcher to dig up the facts, "even, or especially, the inconvenient ones." Then the researcher, a dodgy computer whiz who resembles a lemur, is found with a bullet hole through his head, and Glass's number is the last one listed on his caller ID. The race is onfor Glass to discover what secrets the Lemur had unearthed and who might kill to keep them buried. Originally published serially in the "New York Times Magazine", this slim stand-alone ends abruptly and lacks the character development of Black's earlier successes, the Edgar Award-nominated "Christine Falls" and its follow-up, "The Silver Swan". Glass is an unsympathetic character, and the plot lacks a twist or two to make it truly surprising. Still, it's an entertaining two hours. For larger collections.Christine Perkins, Bellingham P.L., Washington

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2008
Blacks earlier forays into crime fiction are as dense and alarmingas dark woods. His first stand-alone thriller is a more concentrated affair, a stretch of rain-pelted pavement, as befits its initial serialization in the New York Times Magazine. But narrative compactness does not equal simplicity of situation or psychology. No, this is a many-faceted tale of class conflicts and passion gone cruelly awry. Irishman John Glass was the sort of journalist of conscience people revere. Now hes a burnout married to a wealthy American, saddled with a despicable stepson, and acrophobic in his posh, Manhattan skyscraper digs. An old-style smoker and boozer who would prefer to keep his feet on the ground, Glass ruefully agrees to write his commanding father-in-laws biography. A CIA operative turned communications mogul, Big Bill has his secrets and expects Glass to keep them. But Glass hires a researcher, a funny-looking, faintly ludicrous, yet menacing guy he dubs the Lemur, who quickly ends up dead. Who killed the Lemur and why? Blacks mordant wit and profound world-weariness make for a classy, character-driven mystery.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)