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Book Summary and Reviews of The Identity Man by Andrew Klavan

The Identity Man by Andrew Klavan

The Identity Man

by Andrew Klavan

  • Critics' Consensus (3):
  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • Published:
  • Nov 2010, 288 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

John Shannon is a petty thief on the run. A three-time loser framed for a murder he didn’t commit, he knows the cops are closing in on him and that he's facing life in prison - or death by lethal injection. Then, as if out of nowhere, a bizarre text message draws him to a meeting in the dark of night. A foreigner who calls himself the Identity Man offers Shannon an incredible chance to start again: a new face, a new home, a new beginning.

Soon, to his amazement, Shannon finds himself living a life he never dreamed possible. In a ruined city that is trying to rebuild, he finds work as a carpenter and a wood carver. He meets the beautiful Teresa Grey and for the first time falls in love with the sort of woman who could make him a better man.

It seems too good to be true - and it is. Just as Shannon feels within sight of redemption, all hell breaks loose. It turns out this ruined city is crawling with corruption. There are crooked politicians, gangsters, dirty cops everywhere - and, for some reason he doesn’t understand, all of them seem to want Shannon dead.

John Shannon has run out of second chances, and now he’s running out of time. Moving through the darkness in the burnt-out shambles of a dirty town, he’s got to ferret out the secret of his new life - and fast - if he wants to be left with any life at all.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. The inexorable pace and superior quality of the writing lift the story onto a level that feels almost mythic." - Publishers Weekly

"[I]nstead of noir’s existentialism, where little people are crushed by unfeeling bureaucracy, in Klavan’s world the bloodthirsty bureaucracy actively wants to crush the little guy. Klavan’s world is dark, indeed, and not everyone will want to visit." - Booklist

"Klavan hits his target once again with this crime caper." - Kirkus Reviews

This information about The Identity Man was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Portia White

Literary thriller
In the same way Ralph Ellison dealt with identity in Invisible Man, Andrew Klavan takes up the theme, self consciously. (Riots, the Brotherhood, a self reflective main character). Klavan’s prose is as luminous, his observations as insightful, his philosophical proposals as profound. His plot, however, is far more engaging. Klavan’s protagonist is more approachable and fleshed out. This black man’s struggle with identity is an allegory of Everyman. But it is a a rip roaring good read with humor, romance, and suspense.

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