A devastatingly convincing portrait of abuse . . . Add in pitch-perfect dialogue and this utterly assured, high stakes, high-wire act of a novel is proof that Nadzam is a very special talent indeed.

This daring, disturbing first novel imagines the friendship of a child and an older man … [and] flirts with the possibility that such relationships might not always have dire consequences … This is a fiction of striking distinction.

Nadzam reveals Lamb: a damaged, destructive man … a haunting creation, to be both pitied and despised.

This is a brilliantly unsettling read that casts a dark, manipulative spell – particularly against the gorgeously described backdrop of the American West.

Bonnie Nadzam manages to write gorgeous prose about people and skies and mountains while still creating tension and suspense on the level of a thriller ... Lamb is a remarkable debut by a writer to watch. I will be thinking about these characters for a long time.

A gripping psychological study . . . This is a debut author who is definitely worth watching

An unsettling tale of the relationship between two people separated by age and experience, Bonnie Nadzam's debut novel has already garnered rave reviews stateside. Nadzam's difficult story will invariably be compared to Nabakov's Lolita – but this is darker, fresher and stomach-turningly good.

Surprisingly tender, highly inappropriate . . . Lamb is difficult and beautiful, and though it may not be normal, it feels incredibly real.

Only an immensely promising young writer could bestow such grace on such troubled characters.

An unsettling and challenging read.

A disturbing and elusive novel about manipulation and desperate friendship.

Nadzam has a crisp, fluid writing style, and her dialogue is reminiscent of Sam Shepard's . . . it's a fine first effort: storytelling as accomplished as it is unsettling.

Craig Silvey's Rhubarb was one of my favourite Australian novels of 2004 and heralded a major new voice in Australian literary fiction. His next offering in Jasper Jones is another beautifully constructed book with a page-turning narrative and outrageously good dialogue.

A wonderful novel, rich and sombre, a record of pain and less but also of moments of vision and tenderness... flawless

This short-but-striking novel quickly reveals itself to be…crime fiction, yes, but also a subtle and deeply introspective consideration of the inertia of lonely middle-age, its philosophy existentialist in the manner of Jean Paul Sartre, Ingmar Bergman and certain novels of Georges Simenon. The result is a highly complex and accomplished work

Intriguing tale… Solstad expertly navigates the bizarre mind of a clever but lonely man locked in an existentialist nightmare

This is no straightforward crime novel…an exploration of guilt, inaction and moral quandaries