David Neff's first book, The Serial Killer's Protégé, earned him a reputation as "the best true crime writer since Truman Capote." It also left him with a case of post-traumatic stress which, coupled with his wife's suicide, has left him unable to write anything else. Then his publisher tells him of the unsolved murder of a reclusive millionaire who was found shot in a shack not far from David's Ohio home. His curiosity piqued, David starts to prod at the case... and then it gets much weirder than he ever expected, and turns out to be all about him.
The Man from Primrose Lane deliberately invokes its author's own life to shape its main character; James Renner is a true crime writer who lives in Ohio and the author of The Serial Killer's Apprentice. This makes for some unsettling psychological speculation, but that's nothing compared to the ultimate direction in which Renner takes this novel. It's very hard to say much about what happens without unraveling too many surprises that need to be preserved for the reader, but you'll find yourself wondering if the story can possibly be headed where the clues are pointing, and then it happens, and you'll either say "Oh, wow!" or "What the heck?"
Renner's mix of narrative elements is complex, and some readers will think he's thrown in at least one too many. But even they're likely to tell you that, even after the story goes crazy, this is one of the most compelling thrillers you're likely to read all year. --Ron Hogan, founder of Beatrice.com