Cloudland

A stunning literary thriller set in rural Vermont from the much praised author of "Nightswimmer" and "Clara's Heart" Once a major reporter for a national newspaper, Catherine Winslow has retreated to the Upper Valley of Vermont to write a household hints column. While out walking during an early spring thaw, Catherine discovers the body of a woman leaning against an apple tree near her house. From the corpse's pink parka, Winslow recognizes her as the latest victim of a serial killer, a woman reported missing weeks before during a blizzard. When her neighbor, a forensic psychiatrist, is pulled into the investigation, Catherine begins to discover some unexpected connections to the serial murders. One is that the murders might be based on a rare unfinished Wilkie Collins novel that is missing from her personal library. The other is her much younger lover from her failed affair has unexpectedly resurfaced and is trying to maneuver his way back into her affections. Elegant, haunting and profoundly gripping, Cloudland is an ingenious psychological trap baited with murder, deception and the intricacies of desire.

About the Author :
Joseph Olshan is the award-winning author of ten novels including "Nightswimmer" and "The Conversion." He spends most of the year in Vermont.

Review :
"A crash course in Wilkie Collins, wrapped in a thrilling contemporary mystery" -"Mystery Scene Magazine" "A fine writer" -"The Washington Post" "The effect of violence on small communities is one of the most provocative themes for mystery fiction. Joseph Olshan expands that plot [He] makes a bold and quite effective foray into crime fiction." -Oline Cogdill, "The Florida Sun Sentinel "" "Joseph Olshan has stepped up and hit one for the home team. The bracing clarity of his prose...observes the destructive impact [the] killings have on this isolated region." -Marilyn Stasio, "New York Times Book Review" "Evocative... the intricate whodunnit has faint echoes of [Wilkie] Collins with Catherine in the role of his 'Woman In White, ' wandering desolate hills, but not trying nearly hard enough to escape her past." -"The Boston Globe" "CLOUDLAND is a lyrical love poem to that region (Vermont, New Hampshire) - its landscape, its weather, its people - and also to the writings of Wilkie Collins, whose Victorian-era writings helped lay the groundwork for the mystery genre." -"The Charlotte Observer" "The effect of violence on small communities is one of the most provocative themes for mystery fiction. Joseph Olshan expands that plot...[He] makes a bold and quite effective foray into crime fiction." -Oline Cogdill, "The Florida Sun Sentinel " "A fine writer" -"The Washington Post" "Olshan, has a reputation for writing beautifully....Cloudland is a love letter to Vermont." -"The Washington Independent Book Review" "In this refreshingly cliche-free serial-killer tale, Olshan tries his hand with a female narrator/heroine, whom he handles just as deftly as his sensitive male heroes. Although all these chilly, hurting souls are well worth your time, the real keeper is Catherine. Even as you wonder who the killer will turn out to be, you'll worry mainly about how she's going to come through all this." -"Kirkus Reviews" "A crash course in Wilkie Collins, wrapped in a thrilling contemporary mystery" -"Mystery Scene Magazine" "Unlike the more common, adrenaline-fueled serial-killer thrillers, this is literary, character-driven fiction with remarkable empathy not only for those whom murder leaves behind but also for the perpetrator. Another fine performance from a critically acclaimed author." -"Booklist" ""Cloudland" is a beautiful and original novel. Murder, darkness and snow - we immediately felt at home. The depth is painted with precise brushstrokes. The language is as light as snowflakes swirling across a frozen field. The characters are alive, constantly interesting and very cleverly drawn. The murder mystery is deep and intricate. It was genuine and moving. As readers, we'd love to linger in this book, but the story forces us forward. This is true quality crime fiction." --Lars Kepler, "New York Times" bestselling author of "The Hypnotist" "In "Cloudland", Joseph Olshan has written a truly involving thriller with the bones and brain of a serious work of literature, which gives great depth and resonance to the well-wrought thriller plot. This is so difficult an accomplishment that to my knowledge it has been managed only once before in this century. "Cloudland" could also be thought of as a tribute to Wilkie Collins, as much one of Olshan's grandfathers as he is of mine. It's a lovely knockout, this book." --Peter Straub, "New York Times" bestselling author of "Ghost Story" and "A Dark Matter" "A thriller in the widest sense of the word -- where not only does the reader wonder what happens next, they wonder why it will happen. Written in consistently elegant prose, with memorable psychological acuity, "Cloudland" is both exciting and compelling and will keep readers turning pages energetically." --John Katzenbach, international bestselling author of "The Wrong Man"" """Cloudland "is Joseph Olshan's best work since "Clara's Heart", a novel of high suspense that's written in prose as lyrical as "The Lovely Bones"." --"New York Times" bestselling author Steven Gaines" " "A thriller in the widest sense of the word -- where not only does the reader wonder what happens next, they wonder why it will happen. Written in consistently elegant prose, with memorable psychological acuity, "Cloudland" is both exciting and compelling and will keep readers turning pages energetically." --John Katzenbach, author of "The Wrong Man "on "Cloudland"""Cloudland "is Joseph Olshan's best work since "Clara's Heart", a novel of high suspense that's written in prose as lyrical as "The Lovely Bones"." --Steven Gaines, author of "New York Times" bestsellers "Philistines at the Hedgerow "and "The Love You Make" "A compelling story of forbidden desire, deception, religion and love's intoxicating allure." --"Publishers Weekly" (starred review) on "The Conversion" "Provocative and perceptive...delights and engrosses the reader...beguiling." --"Boston Globe" on "The Conversion""" "Delicately, yet powerfully rendered, taking the reader through layers, twists, and turns to a