The Latinist

Description

An NPR Best Book of 2022 One of ‘ Most Anticipated Books of 2022 A Most Anticipated Crime Fiction of 2022 Selection “Ingenious.…a superb literary suspense novel that calls to mind an earlier such debut, Donna Tartt’s .” —Maureen Corrigan, A contemporary reimagining of the Daphne and Apollo myth, is a page-turning exploration of power, ambition, and the intertwining of love and obsession. Ingenious…. a superb literary suspense novel that calls to mind an earlier such debut, Donna Tartt’s …. Like the classics that inspire it, is an inventive wedding of the elegant and the barbaric. Smart and fast-paced…. [A] sparkling debut…. A contemporary classic. Prins’s confident, engrossing debut novel…. contains more than enough twists to keep you turning the page until the very end. A devilishly clever and terrifically entertaining campus novel/philological whodunnit that also happens to be a brilliantly sly riff on Ovid’s Apollo & Daphne…. A remarkably polished and skillful first novel. It would have taken me a single night to read the book except that I kept pausing to pursue tantalizing nuggets of information, ranging from choliambic verse to amputation practices of yesteryear. [A] cleverly plotted adventure about an American student who falls prey to the schemes of her malevolent adviser—a tale of passion, suspense and archaeology. (That’s what I call a ‘triple threat’!) Oxford University graduate student Tessa Templeton trusts her dissertation adviser, Christopher Eccles—but should she? … , which twists around the Daphne and Apollo myth from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, culminates with a deeply satisfying blow to the treachery of academia. An engrossing psychological thriller…. an absorbing drama about obsession, abuse of power and intimate violence. Brilliant…. Delves deep to question the blurring line between love and obsession, between a yearning for truth and a desire of power. Propulsive…. a campus novel turned psychological thriller…. The novel invites us to see Tessa as Daphne, manipulated by but ultimately escaping Eccles’s Apollo, yet it also asks us: what happens to her humanity along the way? This cerebral thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat…. Prins’ analysis of the toxic relationship between advisor and student is nuanced and thoughtful…. succeeds as both literary fiction and thriller; it is every bit as suspenseful as it is intellectually intriguing, with many of the features of A.S. Byatt’s . Within the first few pages of this book, I knew I was in the hands of a masterful storyteller. is imaginative, propulsive, and wildly intelligent. What a joy to encounter a thrilling and singular new voice in fiction. A novel about love and scholarship, ego and obsession, coercion and consent—a brilliant, marvelously infuriating puzzle of a book that combines the globe-trotting exploits of with the smarts and literary gifts of A. S. Byatt. A terrific debut! Brainy and deftly plotted, enchants with its deft inversions of power, its witty poetic inventions, and its passion for languages old and new. A lovely debut. Mark Prins weaves together an extremely contemporary plot—an American academic caught up in the machinations of her advisor at Oxford—with a much older plot—the discovery of a second-century Roman poet. The two thrillingly intertwine and the result is a wonderfully suspenseful novel. is a brilliant debut. is a whip-smart tale of obsession that teeters on the knife-edge of suspense and literary fiction; Mark Prins is a worthy successor to Patricia Highsmith, Donna Tartt, and Ian McEwan. With its ambitious young scholar, an ancient tomb, and a scheming advisor, is a twisty and memorable new addition to the campus-novel genre. Mark Prins propels you through his tale of breakthroughs and retribution while delivering a sharp commentary on power dynamics in academia. A cunning and insightful read—I couldn’t put it down. Darkly disturbing and luminously told.… Every twist is delicious and every turn breathtaking as Mark Prins’s devilish debut revels in a scholarly world of cunning, ruthlessness, and dangerous obsession. Funny, erudite, and utterly absorbing, this is a merciless tale to be relished like a guilty pleasure. Prins’s riveting tale of love, power, and possession matches deep characterization with an intriguing plot involving ancient texts, necropolises, and archaeological sites. Fans of academic thrillers will dig this. US