Book Summary and Reviews of Cataract City by Craig Davidson

Cataract City by Craig Davidson

Cataract City

by Craig Davidson

  • Critics' Consensus (0):
  • Published:
  • Jul 2014, 384 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

A searing novel about two friends on opposite sides of the law, from the author of Rust and Bone, "a writer of immense power" (Peter Straub)

On the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, life beyond the tourist trade isn't easy. Locals like Duncan Diggs and Owen Stuckey have few chances to leave. For Duncan, that means shift work on a production line. For Owen, it means pinning it all on a shot at college basketball. But they should know better; they've been unlucky before. As boys, they were abducted and abandoned in the woods. Though they made it out alive, the memory of that time won't fade. Over the years they drift apart, but when Duncan is drawn into a chaotic world of bare-knuckle fighting and other shady dealings, Owen, now a cop, can't look the other way any longer. Together, they'll be forced to survive the wilderness once more as their friendship is pushed to the limit in Cataract City, a white-hot novel by the rising star Craig Davidson.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Davidson takes a few small missteps... [but] the characters, audacious sweep of the story, and propulsive noir writing make this novel a standout." - Publishes Weekly

"Starred Review. A swiftly told, matter-of-fact unfolding of lives threatening to derail, this Scotiabank Giller Prize finalist will be appreciated by most fiction readers." - Library Journal

"Davidson smudges the line between comedy and horror, cruelty and mercy. His remarkable stories are challenging and upsetting. Don't look for comfort here." - Chuck Palahniuk

"Craig Davidson's sentences flash like punches, clean and fast and brutally beautiful, and within a few pages you'll find yourself off-balance and cornered, unable to defend yourself, bruised by this gripping, dangerous knockout of a novel about a town and a friendship divided." - Benjamin Percy, author of Red Moon and The Wilding

"Craig Davidson asks - and answers - some big, uncomfortable questions about the nature of our humanity." - Irvine Welsh

This information about Cataract City 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.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Craig Davidson

Craig Davidson is the author of Rust and Bone, which was made into a critically acclaimed film; Sarah Court; and The Fighter. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and his work has appeared in Esquire, GQ, and The Washington Post. He lives in Toronto.

More Author Information

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

More Recommendations

Readers Also Browsed . . .

more literary fiction...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    The Cover Girl
    by Amy Rossi
    Find them early enough, and they will always be her girls.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    A Club of One's Own
    by BookBrowse

    Dreaming of starting or reviving a book club? A Club of One’s Own is the essential guide to doing it right.

  • Book Jacket

    This Here Is Love
    by Princess Joy L. Perry

    Three people—two enslaved, one indentured—struggle to overcome the limits and labels of their painful shared pasts.

  • Book Jacket

    The Magician of Tiger Castle
    by Louis Sachar

    The author of Holes returns with a magical adult debut about forbidden love and a kingdom on the brink of collapse.

  • Book Jacket

    Too Old for This
    by Samantha Downing

    A retired killer's secret is at risk when a visitor arrives—her only option? Another murder.

Win This Book
Win All the Men I've Loved Again

All the Men I've Loved Again by Christine Pride

Christine Pride's solo debut explores a woman's love triangle in her 20s that unexpectedly resurfaces in her 40s.

Enter

Book
Trivia

  • Book Trivia

    Can you name the title?

    Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

T T O the T

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.