A quite remarkable first novel - strongly atmospheric, memorable characters, and a compelling structure. I was both moved and impressed - it really is a remarkable achievement

A finale that du Maurier herself would have been proud of, so terrible are the events

Pure fantastic delight

The pacing is perfect, with highly dramatic moments broken up by some gorgeous prose . . . One of the most dramatic and shocking endings I've ever read in a novel . . . definitely my favourite read of 2012 so far

An intense, eerie tale

A very moving story . . . there is a tragic event at the heart of this book which, despite being signposted in the prologue, is still shocking when revealed to the reader

A gripping and evocative story

A short, tight novel about a dangerous friendship that spirals out of control. Hendry grabs hold of the reader in the first few pages and does not let go . . . The Seeing is a powerful novel packed with suspense and atmosphere . . . A stand-out, thrilling read

Poet Diana Hendry's memorable novel of children in a postwar seaside resort who are out to track down 'Left-Over Nazis', a game with devastating results

A powerful story of a family on the verge of imploding, David Vann's novel might not be an easy read - but it is, undoubtedly, a book you will want to devour in a single sitting.

Dirt’s basic set-up , a lone parent and a child locked together in unhealthy co-dependency, is reminiscent of southern tales by Flannery O’Connor, John Kennedy Toole and Tennessee Williams. And while Galen’s religious obsessions align Dirt more with O’Connor or Toole, it’s Williams’s world that the novel is otherwise closest to: the unforgiving, brain-invading heat; the incessant family squabbling; the autocratic patriarch (dead, but still looming in this case); the over-devoted mother; the furtive, incest-like relationship; and the failed, trapped central character, nevertheless convinced of his special gifts and destiny.

What Vann does so well is to take recognisably ordinary characters and put them in critical situations, where tiny decisions or actions have life-altering outcomes. This is what gives his books their nightmarish quality -- the feeling that these events could happen to anyone.

I found it impossible to put down. I read it over a couple of rushed afternoons and found myself gasping for air…Days later I still couldn’t get Galen’s voice – that distinctive blend of mocking, vulnerable and cruel – out of my head…It [Dirt] is both brilliant and painful; comic and disturbing; full of despair about humanity and moments of warmth; deranged and beautifully executed.

Vann's writing is vivid and shocking, and his imagination is extraordinary.

Vann presents us with a pitch perfect rendering of the everyday problems of family life, while simultaneously depicting an outlandish and horrifying battle between son, mother and aunt.

Bodice-ripping romp through the West

Missy by Strong and memorable female characters throughout this enjoyable novel