Lights All Night Long (Fitzpatrick) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
A luminous debut.… Fitzpatrick does so many things right in Lights All Night Long, it’s hard to believe it’s a debut novel. As a mystery, it’s paced perfectly, with the novel moving seamlessly back and forth in time between Ilya’s life in Russia and his new one in America. Fitzpatrick proves to be an expert in building suspense; it’s hard not to read the book in a single sitting.… It’s tricky to capture the specific, sometimes difficult language that brothers use to let each other know they care, but Fitzpatrick manages to do so perfectly, and it makes their relationship all the more beautiful and affecting. Lights All Night Long is both an expertly crafted mystery and a dazzling debut from an author who’s truly attuned to how families work at their darkest moments.… An excellent novel from an author who seems to be at the beginning of an impressive career.
Los Angeles Times

 
Formidably accomplished.… Fitzpatrick sharply examines the cheapness of life while at the same time flagging up and homing in on various redemptive riches, from brotherly bonds to cross-cultural relations to the pursuit of justice.… Few debut novels are so tightly plotted and powerfully written.… A gripping, emotional journey.
Minneapolis Star Tribune


This vivid coming-of-age novel spools out an engrossing mystery amid a tender story about family ties and adopted homes.
Esquire


[G]littering…. The murder mystery is intricate and well-crafted, but the highlight is the relationship between the two brothers…. [A] heartbreaking novel about the lengths to which people go to escape their own pain, and the prices people are willing to pay to alleviate the suffering of their loved ones.
Publishers Weekly


Fitzpatrick’s remarkable debut novel is a coming-of-age narrative interwoven with a gripping mystery.
Shelf Awareness


(Starred review) Beyond the brothers’ crystalline characterizations, Fitzpatrick gifts her intriguing debut with elegant prose, affecting images, and rich settings.
Booklist


A poised, graceful literary debut… An absorbing tale imparted with tenderness and compassion.
Kirkus Reviews


[T]hat rare work of fiction that gathers page-turning momentum from its prose as much as its plot. Fitzpatrick’s writing, accessible yet exquisite, relies on surgically precise metaphors for a lot of heavy emotional lifting.… Darkly beautiful, melancholic but not bleak, Lights All Night Long is storytelling at its finest. Fitzpatrick has written a compelling novel full of intimately portrayed, easy-to-love characters whose spoiled joys and resurgent hopes will linger with readers.
BookPage