Called a "writing machine" by the New York Times and a "master storyteller" by the Midwest Book Review, Sofia Grant has written dozens of novels for adults and teens under the name Sophie Littlefield. She has won Anthony and RT Book Awards and been shortlisted for Edgar®, Barry, Crimespree, Macavity, and Goodreads Choice Awards. Grant/Littlefield works from an urban aerie in Oakland, California.Grant's new novel is The Dress in the Window.
Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Her reply:
The editor will accuse me (rightly) of nepotism, but I am thoroughly enthralled by The Downside, the latest novel from Mike Cooper, who happens to be my brother. It will be out in September and is already garnering smashing reviews.Visit Sofia Grant's website.
Before The Downside won the inaugural Mysterious Press award my sister and I were privileged to read it in draft form. I’m a lazy, distractible reader, apt to wander away from books for days or weeks when they fall under my bed or disappear in my gym bag. I have shiny object disorder and can nearly always be lured away by another book with a pretty cover.
But I read The Downside in one day. Mike’s reviews always seem to contain words like “blistering pace” and “thrilling, non-stop action”—you’ll never find these sorts of observations in my own reviews, in which disgruntled readers sometimes accuse me of putting them to sleep with my deep, deep character dives. (“Nothing happens in the first half,” is a common complaint, along with “The second half dragged.”)
Mike’s book is more than a page turner—it’s super smart, the characters are genuinely interesting, the dialog is snappy, the action is fantastic--and the plot is supersize. How big, exactly? As big as a rail yard, with larger-than-life characters who churn billions of dollars but think nothing of risking everything on a single high-stakes crime. I’ll bet you a stiff drink in a shady bar that you’ll like this one.
--Marshal Zeringue
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