Most Dangerous Place on Earth (Johnson) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
 [An] alarming, compelling and coolly funny debut novel…Ms. Johnson's characters are unpredictable, contradictory and many things at once, which make them particularly satisfying…Here's high school life in all its madness…For its compassion, its ability to see the humanity inside even the most apparently hopeless person and the shimmering intelligence of its prose, The Most Dangerous Place on Earth reminded me a bit of Rick Moody's great 1994 novel, The Ice Storm. You end up sympathizing with and aching for even characters who appear to be irredeemable.
Sarah Lyall - New York Times


Johnson beautifully lays out the complex factors that lead Cally and her friends to brutally bully a fellow student. The cruel episode has a tragic momentum that is hard to read, and also hard to put down. Johnson's novel possesses a propulsive quality, an achievement in a book of, after the initial traumatic event, short character sketches. Yet it moves forward relentlessly, towing the reader with it. I read this book in one, long sitting. A young high school teacher stumbles on buried secrets in this engrossing, multilayered drama.
Trine Tsouderos - Chicago Tribune


If you are cruising for a quality read that’s also an unputdownable quickie, reach for Lindsey Lee Johnson’s debut novel, The Most Dangerous Place on Earth. It’s a high-wire high school drama.
Elle


The characters in Lindsey Lee Johnson’s debut novel affected me in a way I can’t remember feeling since I binge-watched all five seasons of Friday Night Lights. . . . You’ll walk away feeling like you could revisit a hallway drama armed with bulletproof perspective.
Glamour


(Starred review.) Johnson allows [her] dramas to unfold through various shifting perspectives..., keeps the action brisk and deepens readers’ investment, culminating in high school party that goes wrong. Readers may find themselves so swept up in this enthralling novel that they finish it in a single sitting.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review.) Johnson's polished debut novel puts a human face to the details of today's daily headlines of teen life. The characters' wildly risky behaviors are somewhat offset by their ability to excel academically, athletically, and artistically, if not emotionally. This bleak, potent picture will scare the pants off readers. —Beth Andersen, formerly with Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI
Library Journal


 [A]cutely observed novel [may] have been more successful if the author hadn't felt compelled to include all of the following scenarios: A boy…jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge… A girl preyed on by a pedophile middle school teacher… [A] popular athlete...acting in pornographic gay films. Hella effort but may not make bank.
Kirkus Reviews