A brainy, twisty, sometimes twisted mystery

Good People is gleefully dread-filled, mercilessly tense, and moves with the speed of something fired from a sawed-off. Based on his first three novels, one can't help but feel Marcus Sakey is exactly the electric jolt American crime fiction needs

Dark, disturbing and timely

Like any reader, I love old favourites . . . but I love new voices too, and I especially love it when a new voice starts to become an old favourite. It doesn't happen often, but right now it's happening with Marcus Sakey. He's got it all. he writes like a dream, he creates characters exactly like people you know, he scares you, and above all keeps you turning the pages.

But most of all he does the 'what if' thing better than anyone in the business.

'What if' questions power a lot of plots, but Sakey is special. He doesn't just check a box or construct a neat twist for the sake of it. Reading him between the lines, I guarantee he lives this stuff. . . he thinks it through and sweats it out, probably for weeks at a time. I can see him, looking around at all the things he loves, looking at his house, turning and looking at his wife, asking himself, 'What if? What if I had to put all this at risk? Would I? Could I? How would it feel? What would be the effect on me?'

It's that kind of depth and intelligence and passion and emotion that sets Sakey apart. These are not just clever plots. These are real people with night sweats and wide eyes and everything to lose.

Falco’s solid Godfather prequel fills in the backstory of the iconic New York City Mafia family . . . Puzo fans will find this a refreshing change from the inferior sequels.

Her writing is precise, intense, haunting and poetic… A nuanced exploration of human suffering and resilience. Wyld’s writing seems to come from somewhere deep; somewhere a little big unnerving and odd. For once, the hype matches the talent.

Evie Wyld’s All the Birds, Singing is an astonishing novel … The story is compelling, the structure ambitious and the imagery vivid. This is one talented young writer.

Oozes, drips and throbs with menace… A thoughtful and intense account of a young woman seemingly determined to disappear from the world’s radar… All the Birds, Singing should enhance [Wyld's] reputation as one of our most gifted novelists.

A hair-prickling thriller… It's the quality of [Wyld's] prose that really blows your mind.

Unsettling, beautiful, horrifying and moving in equal parts, I haven't read anything quite like All the Birds, Singing for a long time… An extraordinary book.

A voice indebted to Banks and every bit as compelling.

Some novels are crafted with such care that it seems a shame reviewers should get to paw them before readers have the chance to admire their intricacy... Ingeniously constructed narrative.

Beautifully written.

Wyld's writing...is exquisite. An unusual novel that should win its author even more prizes.

Admirably original.

Compelling.

There is a fantastically handled creeping dread to the narrative flow… The ambiguity of Jake's story and her history are played with brilliantly throughout, making this an eerie, creepy kind of existential thriller.

Tim Winton [is] a writer with whom the fearless Wyld deserves serious comparison.

Completely and utterly monumental. Powerful and beautiful written... I was a fan of Evie Wyld beforehand and this is such a leap forwards. An important book.

Thriller, beast-fable and fantasy, Evie Wyld’s second novel is a sparky, dark yarn set in a georgic world of sheep husbandry where things have gone spectacularly awry.

In a sense, this is a tale of possible love and redemption, at once energetic and dark. In another sense, it is a book about summary justice and suspicion, which we readers have been indulging in too… Clever and very unexpected indeed.

A story that asks darkly whether we can rid ourselves of our past.

Wyld has a skill for creating flawed characters you can’t help but root for.

It is written with wit and affection.

This is a wonderfully atmospheric novel with a gripping narrative that keeps the reader on edge all the way through.

A dark, powerfully disturbing and beautifully observed story about a haunting, both physical and temporal.

Evie Wyld merges into her mysterious tale of a lonely shepherdess a savage Australian back-story that lends a haunting extra dimension to a novel of troubling beauty.

A page-turner.

All the Birds, Singing is a gracefully written, absorbing thriller from a new literary talent.

A hair-pricking rural thriller that confirms the talents of a thrilling prose stylist.

I’ve never taught a creative writing course, but if I did I’d certainly introduce my would-be students to Evie Wyld’s All the Birds, Singing... Written in the future tense, the book has an ending of extraordinary pathos and beauty.

This is a powerful, gritty, strong story of suffering and survival... It is quality stuff, stunning.

A wonderfully atmospheric novel with a gripping narrative.

Precise, intense, haunting and poetic… This is a subtle exploration of suffering and resilience and, for once, the hype matches the talent.

Broodingly lyrical… Spellbinding.

Wyld uses language that is purely gorgeous, even – perhaps especially – when underscoring dread.

Impressive.

A tough and tender take on suffering and redemption.

Suspenseful and melancholy… Masterful

A compelling, tense novel that lingers with the reader long after it has been finished

With beautiful writing, it is a compelling, rather dark story which makes you laugh and cry

I am obsessed with it, and with what Wyld is going to do next