Red Dress in Black & White (Ackerman) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
[E]ntirely absorbing…. [The] characters, despite their vividness and their claims on our sympathy, are carried by a mighty undertow of self-interest. What lasts is the book’s emphasis on hidden machinations of power…. This reminder of unseen forces … provides the resonance… that ends the book—a musing on America’s overseas intrusions.
New York Times Book Review


Shrewd, intricately plotted, propulsive…. With all the intersecting perspectives, past-action leaps, socio- and geopolitical intrigue, and the need to contextualize modern Istanbul, the novel can feel a bit labyrinthine. But… there’s something of Graham Greene, too, in the insights and authority on foreign affairs, the combination of moral complexity with entertainment.
Washington Post


Cunning, atmospheric and filled with surprises in ways that call to mind the fiction of Joseph Conrad and John le Carré. Partly an ethical Rorschach test and partly a thriller in the vein of The Year of Living Dangerously, it’s the best novel yet from Ackerman…. It’s also a ton of tangled fun…. Splendidly gnarly.
Seattle Times
 

At once suspenseful and delicate, Red Dress in Black and White deftly depicts love in a brutal time.
Elle.com


In Ackerman’s wry if convoluted latest, the story of an unhappy marriage is suffused with pointed commentary on Turkey.… Still, the big reveal arrives too late and doesn’t quite offer enough payoff to justify such dense plotting. This falls short of Ackerman’s best work.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review) This absolutely riveting novel moves rapidly…. An attention-grabbing, cleverly plotted, character-driven yarn…. In Agatha Christie fashion, Ackerman gathers his characters for what appears to be the grand finale but saves the true reveal for the very end. —Michael Russo, Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge
Library Journal


Ackerman’s trademark prose evocatively captures the strained nature of contemporary Turkish life…. Deftly hints at a shadowy world that exists just out of frame and is one that lives long in the memory.
Booklist


The novel is deftly plotted, though the characters themselves seem more like pawns in the author’s narrative scheme, lacking much flesh-and-blood depth…. A novel in which relationships develop more from pragmatism than passion.
Kirkus Reviews