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Gravesend #2
Le témoin solitaire
Suivre un inconnu à travers Brooklyn parce qu'il inquiète les vieilles dames de la paroisse ? Une mauvaise idée, bien sûr, mais Amy, étrangement fascinée, ne peut s'en empêcher. Et voici qu'après quelques heures de filature, l'homme est tué sous ses yeux d'un coup de couteau dans une rue déserte. En un instant vole en éclat la vie sage et solitaire qu'Amy s'applique à mener depuis de longs mois, loin de son ancienne existence de "party-girl", des bars et des amis de la nuit. Seul témoin du crime, elle décide de se taire et cherche à en savoir plus sur le drame dans lequel elle se retrouve impliquée malgré elle. Avec Le Témoin solitaire, William Boyle revient à Gravesend, ce quartier au sud de Brooklyn qui l'a vu grandir et sur lequel il pose un regard plein de tendresse
299 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2018
107 people are currently reading
1600 people want to read
About the author
William Boyle
42 books429 followersWilliam Boyle is the author of eight books set in and around the southern Brooklyn neighborhood of Gravesend, where he was born and raised. His most recent novel is SAINT OF THE NARROWS STREET, available in February 2025 from Soho Crime in the US and March 2025 from No Exit in the UK. His books have been nominated for the Hammett Prize, the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award in the UK, and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière in France, and they have been included on best-of lists in Washington Post, CrimeReads, and more. He currently lives in Oxford, Mississippi.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 136 reviews
October 10, 2018
William Boyle is an exceptional writer of place and beautifully fully realised complex characterisation. If you are looking for a fast paced drama driven read, then this is not for you. This is set in the Gravesend neighbourhood of Brooklyn, a working class immigrant district of New York. Amy Falconetti has changed her persona after the break up of her relationship with Alessandra, who moved to LA for acting work. Not liking Gravesend, she nevertheless stayed, moving from hard living party girl to a conservatively dressed Eucharistic minister, administering communion to the local house bound elderly of the Catholic Church. She lives in a tiny dingy basement apartment living a minimal and minimised life, close to no-one, an abandoned, dislocated and lost soul lacking direction and identity. The elderly dementia suffering Mrs Epifano's caretaker Diane has sent her son, Vincent, to carry out her duties due to illness. However, Vincent frightens Mrs Epifano who asks Amy for help.
Amy impulsively decides to follow Vincent for no apparent reason, although the why becomes clearer when we learn how Amy as a child saw a neighbour commit murder, about which she said nothing but took to following him. She sees Vincent being murdered and commits a strange act at the scene. Amy cannot help getting further involved, her paranoia rising when she knows she can identify the killer. There are what seem to be insane, dangerous and opportunistic decisions driven by desperate dreams that lead to Amy's life spiraling out of control. She visits dive bars and restaurants, trying to re-inhabit her former life for it only to become clear that once again it does not fit. She is a person that life happens to, a lonely and alone witness, diminished, powerless, tending to lonely elderly parishioners, wanting to do good, but finding no room in her heart for forgiveness, lacking the capacity to connect to another human, fearing being hurt, abandoned and losing her tenuous grip on her poor sense of identity.
Boyle excels in his depiction of the neighbourhood, his eye for details is astonishing as he paints a gritty and vibrant portrait of a scarred place with its scarred people. He captures the sense of dislocation that Amy experiences with real skill, her efforts to make herself invisible, her discomfort with who she is, forced by life challenges to explore her identity further, to be more that a witness in life and murder. The character of Amy is multilayered, subtle and nuanced, framed within a set of circumstances that are testing of character, moral values and resilience. The themes of aloneness and the large circles of the lonely in a city is laid bare in Amy, the army of the elderly in the city, and the others, living with regrets, grief, loss and disconnection. A brilliantly engaging and immersive read that I recommend highly to others. Many thanks to Oldcastle Books for an ARC.
Amy impulsively decides to follow Vincent for no apparent reason, although the why becomes clearer when we learn how Amy as a child saw a neighbour commit murder, about which she said nothing but took to following him. She sees Vincent being murdered and commits a strange act at the scene. Amy cannot help getting further involved, her paranoia rising when she knows she can identify the killer. There are what seem to be insane, dangerous and opportunistic decisions driven by desperate dreams that lead to Amy's life spiraling out of control. She visits dive bars and restaurants, trying to re-inhabit her former life for it only to become clear that once again it does not fit. She is a person that life happens to, a lonely and alone witness, diminished, powerless, tending to lonely elderly parishioners, wanting to do good, but finding no room in her heart for forgiveness, lacking the capacity to connect to another human, fearing being hurt, abandoned and losing her tenuous grip on her poor sense of identity.
Boyle excels in his depiction of the neighbourhood, his eye for details is astonishing as he paints a gritty and vibrant portrait of a scarred place with its scarred people. He captures the sense of dislocation that Amy experiences with real skill, her efforts to make herself invisible, her discomfort with who she is, forced by life challenges to explore her identity further, to be more that a witness in life and murder. The character of Amy is multilayered, subtle and nuanced, framed within a set of circumstances that are testing of character, moral values and resilience. The themes of aloneness and the large circles of the lonely in a city is laid bare in Amy, the army of the elderly in the city, and the others, living with regrets, grief, loss and disconnection. A brilliantly engaging and immersive read that I recommend highly to others. Many thanks to Oldcastle Books for an ARC.
May 4, 2018
I received a free advance copy from NetGalley for review.
I'm from Kansas, but I think I may have developed a New York accent after reading this book.
Amy is a young lady living modestly in her Brooklyn neighborhood, but she used to be a hard partying Manhattan bartender. After her girlfriend dumped her Amy shed most of her once beloved vintage clothes and records and became a regular church goer who lives in a basement apartment. One of her volunteer jobs for the church is giving communion to elderly shut-ins, and one woman that Amy visits complains that her usual caretaker hasn’t been around in days but instead sent her son, Vincent, instead. Vincent has been barging in with the key and going into the old woman’s bedroom even though she asked him not, too.
When Vincent shows up Amy confronts him which makes him angry, but he leaves. Amy is worried that he might come back and that he may have have done something to his mother so she follows him around the neighborhood. Haunted by a homicide she witnessed as a teen that she was threatened into keeping quiet about, Amy continues to shadow Vincent until she witnesses a murder which triggers an odd reaction to it that kicks off a chain of events that involve several people.
I’m surprised how much I liked this book considering that it’s loaded with one of my pet peeves, a plot that depends on the main character regularly acting like an idiot. However, that usually bugs me because too often it’s just a lazy way to make things happen in a thriller, but this is one of those books that is either a character drama with some crime in it or a crime novel driven by the character drama in it. (Six of one, half-a-dozen of another.)
So it works here mainly because Amy is such an interesting and complex person. She knows she’s behaving irrationally at times, but she’s driven by both compulsions related to the old crime she witnessed as well as reexamining her life as she wonders who she really is. Adding to her confusion is the reappearance of the father who abandoned her as a child.
The other strong point is just how thoroughly William Boyle develops the Brooklyn that Amy lives in. There’s such a strong sense of place here that the neighborhood comes to feel like another vivid character, and yet it’s realistic and not sentimental. It’s so well done that you can do Google Street View along with Amy’s movement and see many of the locations mentioned in the book and they look exactly as described.
If you’re interested in a complex character study that uses a crime as a launching point then this fits the bill. Also, I didn’t realize this while reading but have since learned that this functions as a follow-up to Boyle’s Gravesend so now I’m adding that one to the to-read pile.
I'm from Kansas, but I think I may have developed a New York accent after reading this book.
Amy is a young lady living modestly in her Brooklyn neighborhood, but she used to be a hard partying Manhattan bartender. After her girlfriend dumped her Amy shed most of her once beloved vintage clothes and records and became a regular church goer who lives in a basement apartment. One of her volunteer jobs for the church is giving communion to elderly shut-ins, and one woman that Amy visits complains that her usual caretaker hasn’t been around in days but instead sent her son, Vincent, instead. Vincent has been barging in with the key and going into the old woman’s bedroom even though she asked him not, too.
When Vincent shows up Amy confronts him which makes him angry, but he leaves. Amy is worried that he might come back and that he may have have done something to his mother so she follows him around the neighborhood. Haunted by a homicide she witnessed as a teen that she was threatened into keeping quiet about, Amy continues to shadow Vincent until she witnesses a murder which triggers an odd reaction to it that kicks off a chain of events that involve several people.
I’m surprised how much I liked this book considering that it’s loaded with one of my pet peeves, a plot that depends on the main character regularly acting like an idiot. However, that usually bugs me because too often it’s just a lazy way to make things happen in a thriller, but this is one of those books that is either a character drama with some crime in it or a crime novel driven by the character drama in it. (Six of one, half-a-dozen of another.)
So it works here mainly because Amy is such an interesting and complex person. She knows she’s behaving irrationally at times, but she’s driven by both compulsions related to the old crime she witnessed as well as reexamining her life as she wonders who she really is. Adding to her confusion is the reappearance of the father who abandoned her as a child.
The other strong point is just how thoroughly William Boyle develops the Brooklyn that Amy lives in. There’s such a strong sense of place here that the neighborhood comes to feel like another vivid character, and yet it’s realistic and not sentimental. It’s so well done that you can do Google Street View along with Amy’s movement and see many of the locations mentioned in the book and they look exactly as described.
If you’re interested in a complex character study that uses a crime as a launching point then this fits the bill. Also, I didn’t realize this while reading but have since learned that this functions as a follow-up to Boyle’s Gravesend so now I’m adding that one to the to-read pile.
June 25, 2018
The protagonist is this novel is a young woman named Amy who lives in a tiny, dingy basement apartment in Brooklyn. Amy used to party hard, but after her lover breaks up with her, she retreats into a much different, much quieter, and much more lonely life. She now does volunteer work, principally for her church, and among other things, she delivers communion to elderly shut-ins.
One morning she delivers communion to a Mrs. Epifanio who tells Amy that she hasn't seen her usual caretaker, a woman named Diane, in several days. Moments later, a man who identifies himself as Diane's son, Vincent, walks in on the two women, having let himself in with a key that he apparently got from his mother. He tells Amy that his mother is sick and that he is checking in on Mrs. Epifanio until she gets better.
Amy is very unsettled by Vincent's appearance, especially when Mrs. Epifanio tells her that Vincent has been rooting around in her bedroom on his earlier visits. Determined to discover what might be going on, Amy takes to following Vincent and then witnesses something that she wasn't meant to see. The remainder of the book unfolds as Amy deals with the consequences of what she has seen and what she has done--and not done--in consequence.
I have very mixed emotions about this book. For me, it's principal strength is the setting. Boyle clearly knows the neighborhoods in which he has set the novel and the sense of place is outstanding. The reader feels as though he, or she, is walking right alongside Amy as she makes her way along, even though, personally, I don't think I'd want to visit many of these scenes, let alone live in them.
On the downside, I simply could not relate to the character of Amy who, to my way of thinking, made one incredibly bad decision after another. In the end, many of her actions left me simply shaking my head. As a result, I couldn't develop any real empathy for her and, ultimately, I really didn't care very much what happened to her. Also, some of the criminal activity at the heart of the book is pretty hard to believe and so in the end, three and a half stars for me, rounded up to four for the great job Boyle does at setting the scene.
One morning she delivers communion to a Mrs. Epifanio who tells Amy that she hasn't seen her usual caretaker, a woman named Diane, in several days. Moments later, a man who identifies himself as Diane's son, Vincent, walks in on the two women, having let himself in with a key that he apparently got from his mother. He tells Amy that his mother is sick and that he is checking in on Mrs. Epifanio until she gets better.
Amy is very unsettled by Vincent's appearance, especially when Mrs. Epifanio tells her that Vincent has been rooting around in her bedroom on his earlier visits. Determined to discover what might be going on, Amy takes to following Vincent and then witnesses something that she wasn't meant to see. The remainder of the book unfolds as Amy deals with the consequences of what she has seen and what she has done--and not done--in consequence.
I have very mixed emotions about this book. For me, it's principal strength is the setting. Boyle clearly knows the neighborhoods in which he has set the novel and the sense of place is outstanding. The reader feels as though he, or she, is walking right alongside Amy as she makes her way along, even though, personally, I don't think I'd want to visit many of these scenes, let alone live in them.
On the downside, I simply could not relate to the character of Amy who, to my way of thinking, made one incredibly bad decision after another. In the end, many of her actions left me simply shaking my head. As a result, I couldn't develop any real empathy for her and, ultimately, I really didn't care very much what happened to her. Also, some of the criminal activity at the heart of the book is pretty hard to believe and so in the end, three and a half stars for me, rounded up to four for the great job Boyle does at setting the scene.
May 1, 2018
William Boyle's new novel isn't exactly a sequel to his previous one,
Gravesend
, but we do follow Amy, a small side character from that first novel, a party girl who formed a relationship with Gravesend's heroine, Alessandra. In The Lonely Witness she has cut herself off from her past life after Alessandra abandons her, and sequesters herself socially in her Brooklyn neighborhood, where she volunteers for a local Catholic church, providing in-home communion for the elderly.
Once again, Boyle provides us with a deep study of an emotionally lost character as she drifts through a detailed Brooklyn steeped in sadness. The novel is all about identity as Amy struggles to figure out her place in the world. She constantly believes that the life she's set up for herself as a helper to the ignored is the right one, but she keeps finding herself pulled in other directions. Old friends from the past and the people who inhabit her life presently all know different Amy's, but the real question that she has to ask herself is which one is the real her. You get the sense that Amy has hidden behind all of these personality facades all her life and now she's on a journey to realize who she truly is. Amy, as well as most of the other characters in the book, set about to leave their dead end lives, sometimes with tragic consequences.
Like Gravesend, this book is a slow novel and a bit meandering, but the reason why it doesn't fully succeed for me the way Gravesend did is because where that first novel switched back and forth between equally fascinating POV's, keeping it fresh, this one just focuses on one character, one that happens to be a hard nut to crack, so the pace and other issues were more evident. But the novel's conclusion as well as Boyle's keen-eyed observance really clicked with me.
The Lonely Witness come out May 1, and this is my review of an advanced copy that I received in exchange for an honest review!
Once again, Boyle provides us with a deep study of an emotionally lost character as she drifts through a detailed Brooklyn steeped in sadness. The novel is all about identity as Amy struggles to figure out her place in the world. She constantly believes that the life she's set up for herself as a helper to the ignored is the right one, but she keeps finding herself pulled in other directions. Old friends from the past and the people who inhabit her life presently all know different Amy's, but the real question that she has to ask herself is which one is the real her. You get the sense that Amy has hidden behind all of these personality facades all her life and now she's on a journey to realize who she truly is. Amy, as well as most of the other characters in the book, set about to leave their dead end lives, sometimes with tragic consequences.
Like Gravesend, this book is a slow novel and a bit meandering, but the reason why it doesn't fully succeed for me the way Gravesend did is because where that first novel switched back and forth between equally fascinating POV's, keeping it fresh, this one just focuses on one character, one that happens to be a hard nut to crack, so the pace and other issues were more evident. But the novel's conclusion as well as Boyle's keen-eyed observance really clicked with me.
The Lonely Witness come out May 1, and this is my review of an advanced copy that I received in exchange for an honest review!
July 30, 2024
The Lonely Witness is a wonderfully-crafted character study. Though the action is quite limited for much of the book, it doesn't matter. The journey into Amy's world is so complex that you want to read more. These days, Amy is a church volunteer who ministers communion to shut-in elderly and spends time with them. She dresses conservatively and lives in a tiny basement apartment with few possessions. She used to have another life where she tended bar in Manhattan, dressed like a rockabilly model, partied until dawn, had intense romantic relationships with other women. Now, Amy witnesses a murder and somehow gets caught up in it. And, the question is who is she really. Which character is Amy and which is just a disguise. Who are we really underneath our costumes and disguises? An intensely written drama that starts slowly and builds to quite a crescendo. A very well-imagined piece of writing.
Thanks to Pegasus Books for providing a copy for review.
Thanks to Pegasus Books for providing a copy for review.
Want to read
July 16, 20192019 Hammett Award Nominees
William Boyle, The Lonely Witness (Pegasus Crime)
Lisa Unger, Under My Skin (Park Row)
Sam Wiebe, Cut You Down (Random House Canada)
Lou Berney, November Road (William Morrow)
Robert Olen Butler, Paris in the Dark (The Mysterious Press)
William Boyle, The Lonely Witness (Pegasus Crime)
Lisa Unger, Under My Skin (Park Row)
Sam Wiebe, Cut You Down (Random House Canada)
Lou Berney, November Road (William Morrow)
Robert Olen Butler, Paris in the Dark (The Mysterious Press)
June 19, 2018
Occasionally, I will know that something is a bad idea and that I will regret doing it, and then, fully in possession of this knowledge, I will go ahead and do the bad thing anyway. I haven't yet taken a murder weapon from a crime scene, but, you know, I'm young yet. Anything could happen.
Suffice to say, while I could see how Amy's virtual disconnect between her judgment and her actions could annoy someone, I found it to be just on the right side of unsettling and something that made for a strong psychological suspense novel that's ultimately all about the stranger inside.
For the last few years, Amy has been living a life that is, depending on how you look at it, either virtuous or stifling. She's reinvented herself from the heavily-tattooed, hard-living lesbian bartender to a young woman whose friends are mostly elderly people from her local church and whose only real work is delivering Communion to people who can't easily leave their houses. She has a probably-hopeless crush on a woman who works at her local Chinese restaurant. She avoids telling anyone in her new life about her orientation because she thinks they won't understand, but also, Boyle hints, because she wants to draw a thick line between her two selves. But her past and present collide when she has a run-in with Vincent, a guy who might just be a little bit of a jerk, might be an opportunistic sleaze, and might be a murderer.
This plunges Amy back into her childhood, when she witnessed a murder and was pressured into keeping quiet but held onto a sense of power by following the murderer all over town. She starts tailing Vincent. This is all nicely done in a kind of dark, dreamy Highsmithian way, and then it takes a hard, sharp turn--basically always a boon in crime lit--when Vincent is murdered in front of her. She impulsively steals the murder weapon. And everything spirals out from there.
Boyle unspools everything in a gradual, layered way. There's a plot, but the story is less the story of what happens and more the story of the way everyone responds to it, and in particular the way what's happening opens up unexplored parts of themselves: secret love affairs, opportunities for crime, wigs, new neighborhoods...
I'm excited to read more Boyle.
Suffice to say, while I could see how Amy's virtual disconnect between her judgment and her actions could annoy someone, I found it to be just on the right side of unsettling and something that made for a strong psychological suspense novel that's ultimately all about the stranger inside.
For the last few years, Amy has been living a life that is, depending on how you look at it, either virtuous or stifling. She's reinvented herself from the heavily-tattooed, hard-living lesbian bartender to a young woman whose friends are mostly elderly people from her local church and whose only real work is delivering Communion to people who can't easily leave their houses. She has a probably-hopeless crush on a woman who works at her local Chinese restaurant. She avoids telling anyone in her new life about her orientation because she thinks they won't understand, but also, Boyle hints, because she wants to draw a thick line between her two selves. But her past and present collide when she has a run-in with Vincent, a guy who might just be a little bit of a jerk, might be an opportunistic sleaze, and might be a murderer.
This plunges Amy back into her childhood, when she witnessed a murder and was pressured into keeping quiet but held onto a sense of power by following the murderer all over town. She starts tailing Vincent. This is all nicely done in a kind of dark, dreamy Highsmithian way, and then it takes a hard, sharp turn--basically always a boon in crime lit--when Vincent is murdered in front of her. She impulsively steals the murder weapon. And everything spirals out from there.
Boyle unspools everything in a gradual, layered way. There's a plot, but the story is less the story of what happens and more the story of the way everyone responds to it, and in particular the way what's happening opens up unexplored parts of themselves: secret love affairs, opportunities for crime, wigs, new neighborhoods...
I'm excited to read more Boyle.
April 14, 2018
My patience for losers and marginals in literature has worn thin a long time ago, but leave it to Boyle to write the most sincere, realistic characters in need of a change of life. Young Amy is running in circles in her old stomping ground and looking for a way out, which she gets offered through tragedy. A tough novel to rank because it has technical problems, but a purpose so powerful is almost transcends them.
William Boyle is one of the most reliable writers we have working today and The Lonely Witness is a testament to that.
William Boyle is one of the most reliable writers we have working today and The Lonely Witness is a testament to that.
May 6, 2018
Gorgeous and wrenching. I just felt in love with the main character, Amy--a former wild girl now living a kind of penitent life back in her old Brooklyn neighborhood. After she witnesses a crime, everything begins to unravel for her, and her journey though the novel is harrowing, surprising and so authentic. A knockout book.
June 4, 2018
Troubled woman in rut looking for way out of her neighbourhood but gets caught in whirlpool, a witness, a ... , money tempting her, she cleaned up, people needed her, a parishioner, but some new things come to her realm, paternal figure tries to interlope her struggles. She’s not so used to have someone to call dad, as he has not been around making wrongs right, atonements.
A noir thriller that has this likeable main female character up against it trying to serve out a pipe dream and find her place in love, in credit, and free from the bonds that tie her to the past.
Nice writing in a gripping tale that keeps the reader on till the end with vested interests in one woman’s fate.
A noir thriller that has this likeable main female character up against it trying to serve out a pipe dream and find her place in love, in credit, and free from the bonds that tie her to the past.
Nice writing in a gripping tale that keeps the reader on till the end with vested interests in one woman’s fate.
May 25, 2018
Great Character Driven Crime Novel
I can see why people get frustrated with characters that don’t react/respond in situations the way a reader would, but for me I think we most likely won’t react the way we think we will in extreme situations. Also, I don’t find it interesting to watch characters behave like me. I enjoy reading the exploration of “But why would you do that?!”–and that was certainly the main character Amy. Living in a Brooklyn neighborhood, Amy has reduced her life after her girlfriend left her. She’s donated her time to the church and offers communion to elderly residents at their homes. It’s on one of these visits where the trouble begins: Mrs. Epifanio thinks her caretaker’s son murdered his mom, and that’s why she hasn’t shown up and he’s been coming instead with his mom’s key and rummaging in Mrs. Epifanio’s bedroom. Amy ends up trying to help Mrs. Epifanio by following the son, and finds herself witnessing a crime and opening the door to danger. A good crime novel that explores loneliness, regret, forgiveness, and whether we can ever make ourselves small enough to avoid the world, and our past, from hurting us again.
--from Book Riot's Unusual Suspects newsletter: http://link.bookriot.com/view/56a8200...
I can see why people get frustrated with characters that don’t react/respond in situations the way a reader would, but for me I think we most likely won’t react the way we think we will in extreme situations. Also, I don’t find it interesting to watch characters behave like me. I enjoy reading the exploration of “But why would you do that?!”–and that was certainly the main character Amy. Living in a Brooklyn neighborhood, Amy has reduced her life after her girlfriend left her. She’s donated her time to the church and offers communion to elderly residents at their homes. It’s on one of these visits where the trouble begins: Mrs. Epifanio thinks her caretaker’s son murdered his mom, and that’s why she hasn’t shown up and he’s been coming instead with his mom’s key and rummaging in Mrs. Epifanio’s bedroom. Amy ends up trying to help Mrs. Epifanio by following the son, and finds herself witnessing a crime and opening the door to danger. A good crime novel that explores loneliness, regret, forgiveness, and whether we can ever make ourselves small enough to avoid the world, and our past, from hurting us again.
--from Book Riot's Unusual Suspects newsletter: http://link.bookriot.com/view/56a8200...
June 6, 2018
"No way was it wrong to chase a feeling, to be unhinged, to act out of fear and fascination. How did she lose that knowledge? Whatever she'd gained had led to so much lost."
For my entire life I've been telling people that fall is my favorite season because it's when the light changes, everything dies off, and as such it's incredibly goth. In reality, however, fall makes me endlessly anxious and depressed and is the start of the nightmare season of winter and every year I get to about November and I'm over it. What I really crave as a person is natural light until nine at night, warmth, and no enforced bedtimes for my child, so I am boldly proclaiming my truth: summer is really where it's at, especially the beginning of June. And this is exactly the type of kick in the pants book that I needed to start off my summer, the type where you pick up, read the first few pages, and then moments later it's been three hours and you're 2/3s of the way through. Amy Falconetti wears sensible pants now instead of swing capris and sugar skull flats and she takes communion to the housebound ladies in her church instead of tending bar, but that doesn't stop her from making an escalating series of terrible choices after witnessing a murder. This is filled with perfectly drawn neighborhood characters like lonely, chatty landlord Mr. Pezzolanti, heartbroken Diane Marchetti, little Mrs. Epifanio, Connie Giacchino, Monsignor Riccardi, and Mrs. Mescolotto, who yells things like, "You call the cops, and I'll have this fucking place blown up with you inside. You know my father, Jimmy Longabardi? You know that name?" This is smooth and quick and beautifully written and the last thirty or so pages are masterful, just impeccably-realized scenes that had me fanning myself because they were so great. Summer, come get me.
For my entire life I've been telling people that fall is my favorite season because it's when the light changes, everything dies off, and as such it's incredibly goth. In reality, however, fall makes me endlessly anxious and depressed and is the start of the nightmare season of winter and every year I get to about November and I'm over it. What I really crave as a person is natural light until nine at night, warmth, and no enforced bedtimes for my child, so I am boldly proclaiming my truth: summer is really where it's at, especially the beginning of June. And this is exactly the type of kick in the pants book that I needed to start off my summer, the type where you pick up, read the first few pages, and then moments later it's been three hours and you're 2/3s of the way through. Amy Falconetti wears sensible pants now instead of swing capris and sugar skull flats and she takes communion to the housebound ladies in her church instead of tending bar, but that doesn't stop her from making an escalating series of terrible choices after witnessing a murder. This is filled with perfectly drawn neighborhood characters like lonely, chatty landlord Mr. Pezzolanti, heartbroken Diane Marchetti, little Mrs. Epifanio, Connie Giacchino, Monsignor Riccardi, and Mrs. Mescolotto, who yells things like, "You call the cops, and I'll have this fucking place blown up with you inside. You know my father, Jimmy Longabardi? You know that name?" This is smooth and quick and beautifully written and the last thirty or so pages are masterful, just impeccably-realized scenes that had me fanning myself because they were so great. Summer, come get me.
May 22, 2018
I was about 29% in to this book and was really ready to put it down. Then, I read a review that said it was slow at the beginning, but got better. So, I decided to give it a try.
Well, it did have action over halfway through I think. That action, however, was interspersed with what seemed to me to be filler pages. The action did get my pulse racing a little, but that's only because I scanned the many filler pages and looked for it.
I had a lot of sympathy for Amy still trying to figure things out. However, I was sold on the understanding that this was a thriller.
In short you go through a LOT of filler pages about Amy's issues before I got to the action part. I was really expecting more action.
Thanks to Pegasus Books and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
Well, it did have action over halfway through I think. That action, however, was interspersed with what seemed to me to be filler pages. The action did get my pulse racing a little, but that's only because I scanned the many filler pages and looked for it.
I had a lot of sympathy for Amy still trying to figure things out. However, I was sold on the understanding that this was a thriller.
In short you go through a LOT of filler pages about Amy's issues before I got to the action part. I was really expecting more action.
Thanks to Pegasus Books and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
June 23, 2018
Boyle’s follow up to Gravesend is set in the same area of New York and makes reference to the crimes but that is all. It is not a ‘second in series’ by any means. After a promising start it get caught up in domestic and neighbourhood activity and lacks the action and the more direct approach that made his first book so compelling.
It is best seen as a character study of Amy. From her once wild party life she now volunteers for the Church, and has been visiting an elderly parishioner when she witnesses a crime. Her life changes as she finds herself once again mixing with the seedier side of the neighbourhood.
It isn’t as strong as Gravesend , but it has its moments. 60 or so pages less could have made it a far more appealing story.
It is best seen as a character study of Amy. From her once wild party life she now volunteers for the Church, and has been visiting an elderly parishioner when she witnesses a crime. Her life changes as she finds herself once again mixing with the seedier side of the neighbourhood.
It isn’t as strong as Gravesend , but it has its moments. 60 or so pages less could have made it a far more appealing story.
January 3, 2019
I love this book for the same reason I loved William Boyle's first novel Gravesend. The characters are so familiar to me that I feel like I'm back in high school (in NYC) surrounded by Tonys and Vinnies. This is the kind of story Martin Scorsese would have filmed back in the 70s.
Don't be a jadrool! Run out and buy (and READ) this book.
Don't be a jadrool! Run out and buy (and READ) this book.
June 17, 2018
Overall I liked the book. I could have done without the political commentary, and found the ending a little disappointing and sad. I preferred the big-hearted Amy from the beginning of the book, but didn’t like who she became at the end. However, there were plenty of other colorful characters (although a bit exaggerated) and enough suspense to keep me reading.
August 20, 2025
No salvation stands, no illusion survives
The second Boyle caper I've read...Like the first, City of Margins, it's decaying Italian neighborhoods, lowlifes, shadowy connections, and desperate younger kids, now getting worn down, who want to rip off somebody, and run off. Allesandra from the prequel Gravesend is here and a surname surfaces from CoM, along with parochial schools. But the city keeps changing; by 2017, the rents too damn high.
Yet Amy seems to be able to do ok. Until she gets sucked back into the party girl, rockabilly gal, barhopper she was a decade earlier. Her desperation to find "opportunities" after she witnesses a stabbing leads her into rash decisions, which Boyle--keeping the entire narrative focused on his protagonist as a wise move to heighten tension and sustain momentum as a few days turn surreal, stumbling, and scary--convincingly portrays without sentiment or cliche. He paces the plot, deepens characters, and handles dialogue smartly.
As before, he packs a lot of action into a brief period. The close-knit community means everyone has heard "something" but the codes hold and rumors spread as the truth warps. I found the climax rather overheated, pun intended, but it's symbolic of the collapse of the 20th c. stability of church, business, family, and work that kept the immigrants' children rooted. But now their grandchildren and their progeny flee for Jersey, or even L.A., as the city keeps crumbling and nostalgia shrouds those too elderly or damaged to join the exodus.
The second Boyle caper I've read...Like the first, City of Margins, it's decaying Italian neighborhoods, lowlifes, shadowy connections, and desperate younger kids, now getting worn down, who want to rip off somebody, and run off. Allesandra from the prequel Gravesend is here and a surname surfaces from CoM, along with parochial schools. But the city keeps changing; by 2017, the rents too damn high.
Yet Amy seems to be able to do ok. Until she gets sucked back into the party girl, rockabilly gal, barhopper she was a decade earlier. Her desperation to find "opportunities" after she witnesses a stabbing leads her into rash decisions, which Boyle--keeping the entire narrative focused on his protagonist as a wise move to heighten tension and sustain momentum as a few days turn surreal, stumbling, and scary--convincingly portrays without sentiment or cliche. He paces the plot, deepens characters, and handles dialogue smartly.
As before, he packs a lot of action into a brief period. The close-knit community means everyone has heard "something" but the codes hold and rumors spread as the truth warps. I found the climax rather overheated, pun intended, but it's symbolic of the collapse of the 20th c. stability of church, business, family, and work that kept the immigrants' children rooted. But now their grandchildren and their progeny flee for Jersey, or even L.A., as the city keeps crumbling and nostalgia shrouds those too elderly or damaged to join the exodus.
April 21, 2025
This is not a bad book. Though it can stand alone, some of the characters are taken from Gravesend, the first book. The problem is that the character one most wanted to see revived, appears here, but with a completely, an entirely different personality. And it is incredibly jarring. That in itself costs the book a single star.
August 28, 2025
Very human characters who may make unseemly choices but are relatable just the same. What really stands out is Boyle's use of New York and how to live there. Amy, the central character, good at heart and trying to return to core values finds herself embroiled in murder and mayhem, but this read swiftly and was great fun. Returned me to the city.
April 11, 2020
The main character's motivation is never explained. Shy take the knife? Why not go to the police?
May 22, 2018
Amy lives a lonely life as a volunteer for the Catholic Church which is very different from the party lifestyle she once had. A home bound lady she visits tells Amy that her caretaker Diane has not been to see her in a few days but Diane's son came by acting suspiciously. Amy follows the son a couple of times to see what he might be up to and witnesses his murder. Instead of calling the police, she picks up the knife and takes it home with her. Soon the killer begins following her.
The book is driven by Amy's character as she tries to find herself and I felt a very modern vibe as I was reading. This murder was not the first one Amy had witnessed in her life and she didn't call the police either time. It's driven into my brain that if you see something happening, say something, so I couldn't relate. The book was easy to read but just not my style.
The book is driven by Amy's character as she tries to find herself and I felt a very modern vibe as I was reading. This murder was not the first one Amy had witnessed in her life and she didn't call the police either time. It's driven into my brain that if you see something happening, say something, so I couldn't relate. The book was easy to read but just not my style.
unreadable
October 25, 2018I detest the way this is written. The first person, present tense point of view is probably meant to increase the tension, but I don't think it is done well. The cadence is off and I don't want to hear any more details about the MC's childhood.
Because I stopped at page 33, I'm not giving this a star rating.
Bailed 6/7/2018 - will not try again.
Because I stopped at page 33, I'm not giving this a star rating.
Bailed 6/7/2018 - will not try again.
March 4, 2020
I mean, I finished it because of Book Group and also I kept thinking that maybe it would get interesting. SUCH A BORING BOOK. How can a book with interesting topics like stalking a murderer not be interesting?! This is how.
January 18, 2019
Amy lives quietly in a basement apartment in a working class part of Brooklyn. She dresses nondescriptly and spends her days bringing the Eucharist to elderly shut-ins and volunteering at church. She has a past, of dressing "like an extra in a John Waters film," bartending and partying with her girlfriend, but she left all that when Alessandra left her to pursue her acting career in Los Angeles. She seems to genuinely care for the elderly women she ministers to, but all that changes on a dime when she sees a man being murdered.
I picked up this book after seeing it described on a year-end "best of" list and seeing that Megan Abbott praised it. I was never able to get past the erratic nature of the main character. I like an unsympathetic character, but I do need that character to be believable. There was no telling what Amy would do next, whether that was help out a grieving mother or robbing an elderly parishioner, whether or not Amy was caring or criminal in her behavior was entirely random, and not in a fun, anarchic way. It was certainly fast-paced, though.
I picked up this book after seeing it described on a year-end "best of" list and seeing that Megan Abbott praised it. I was never able to get past the erratic nature of the main character. I like an unsympathetic character, but I do need that character to be believable. There was no telling what Amy would do next, whether that was help out a grieving mother or robbing an elderly parishioner, whether or not Amy was caring or criminal in her behavior was entirely random, and not in a fun, anarchic way. It was certainly fast-paced, though.
December 28, 2018
I know this is fiction, but this is completely unbelievable. Here's what I learned from the first 15 pages: main character suffered extreme trauma around a violent act done by a person who looks just like this new character who is super creepy, aggressive, and makes her uncomfortable. What does she do? Decides not to call the police but confront him alone on two occasions. Okey doke. Check, please.
January 31, 2021
I enjoyed the writing style, the characters were interesting, and the Brooklyn setting was richly and lovingly described. "The Lonely Witness", though, was a bit too much of a downer novel for me to truly relish. The plot was understandable but didn't pass the smell test for believability.
The Lonely Witness is the story of Amy, a once hard-partying young lady who morphed into a churchgoing lonely person after breaking up with her girlfriend. While fulfilling her responsibilities in delivering Holy Communion to homebound seniors, she witnesses a murder and ends up making what may be a world record number of incredibly bad decisions, beginning with not reporting the crime. Her little slice of Brooklyn, Gravesend, with its tight families and gossiping inhabitants, becomes claustrophobic for her as she suffers the inevitable recriminations. Of course, the murderer discovers her identity and proposes a way for Amy to avoid him killing her. Her ex-girlfriend makes an appearance, as does her long missing father, and she struggles to maintain her sanity and somehow find it in herself to make one good decision.
William Boyle's approach to writing, lots of short declarative sentences, excellent dialogue, and realistic descriptions of Amy's milieu are what sold me on The Lonely Witness. What was irritating was the consistent stream of bad decisions made by the lead character. I could see someone witnessing a crime and not calling the police, especially if she's had a similar experience in the past. But to stand over the body and not render aid? To pick up the murder weapon and take it home? There's a lot to like in The Lonely Witness and I plan to follow this writer, but it was one head shaking mistake after another for the lead character.
The Lonely Witness is the story of Amy, a once hard-partying young lady who morphed into a churchgoing lonely person after breaking up with her girlfriend. While fulfilling her responsibilities in delivering Holy Communion to homebound seniors, she witnesses a murder and ends up making what may be a world record number of incredibly bad decisions, beginning with not reporting the crime. Her little slice of Brooklyn, Gravesend, with its tight families and gossiping inhabitants, becomes claustrophobic for her as she suffers the inevitable recriminations. Of course, the murderer discovers her identity and proposes a way for Amy to avoid him killing her. Her ex-girlfriend makes an appearance, as does her long missing father, and she struggles to maintain her sanity and somehow find it in herself to make one good decision.
William Boyle's approach to writing, lots of short declarative sentences, excellent dialogue, and realistic descriptions of Amy's milieu are what sold me on The Lonely Witness. What was irritating was the consistent stream of bad decisions made by the lead character. I could see someone witnessing a crime and not calling the police, especially if she's had a similar experience in the past. But to stand over the body and not render aid? To pick up the murder weapon and take it home? There's a lot to like in The Lonely Witness and I plan to follow this writer, but it was one head shaking mistake after another for the lead character.
November 6, 2018
I have not read this author before but I found the blurb intriguing enough to take a closer look. I couldn’t quite comprehend why someone would witness a murder but not inform the cops. Am I any the wiser after reading The Lonely Witness …. well you will just have to read it yourself to seek out the resolution!
Another point in it’s favour is the setting. I have been to Brooklyn a few times and I can certainly sink myself back into the area, soak up the drawl, that definitely helped having the entire atmosphere visually and physically accessible to me.
This is a slow uptake book, focusing on Amy who has come out of a relationship, during that time she was a hard hitting party girl and next she has a personality change by turning to the church. One has to wonder why the complete transformation?
She then witnesses a murder and becomes paranoid when she realises she can identify the killer so will the killer then come for her. The Lonely Witness is a dark tense read that delves into some weird situations but could easily be classified as a fight for survival on many levels.
The author isn’t afraid to write the most complex detail about people’s lives, homes, jobs the eye-witness account of the area can only serve as an aid to direction and the entire neighbourhood.
A dark, gritty story based around Amy, if you like to know the complexities of the person and the area with a certain amount of tense entertainment thrown in, then this could be the book for you.
Thanks to the author, publisher and Anne at Random Things Tours. I read and reviewed voluntarily.
Another point in it’s favour is the setting. I have been to Brooklyn a few times and I can certainly sink myself back into the area, soak up the drawl, that definitely helped having the entire atmosphere visually and physically accessible to me.
This is a slow uptake book, focusing on Amy who has come out of a relationship, during that time she was a hard hitting party girl and next she has a personality change by turning to the church. One has to wonder why the complete transformation?
She then witnesses a murder and becomes paranoid when she realises she can identify the killer so will the killer then come for her. The Lonely Witness is a dark tense read that delves into some weird situations but could easily be classified as a fight for survival on many levels.
The author isn’t afraid to write the most complex detail about people’s lives, homes, jobs the eye-witness account of the area can only serve as an aid to direction and the entire neighbourhood.
A dark, gritty story based around Amy, if you like to know the complexities of the person and the area with a certain amount of tense entertainment thrown in, then this could be the book for you.
Thanks to the author, publisher and Anne at Random Things Tours. I read and reviewed voluntarily.
October 24, 2018
OMG. I loved this book! I actually devoured it within a single day. A page turner. Brilliant story. I loved Amys character, she may have two sides to her but doesn’t everyone?
I loved how she wasn’t afraid to figure the situation and incident out for herself cause I would have ran! Saying that, she then had the problem of staying out of the polices light and I disapproved of a few things she did along the way.
Will she get the result she has been searching for? Or will she just run away from it all? I think Amy could be a brilliant detective if she puts her mind to it.
Well written, short chapters and fast paced! A well deserved four stars it not everyday that I devour a book this quickly. Highly recommend.
I loved how she wasn’t afraid to figure the situation and incident out for herself cause I would have ran! Saying that, she then had the problem of staying out of the polices light and I disapproved of a few things she did along the way.
Will she get the result she has been searching for? Or will she just run away from it all? I think Amy could be a brilliant detective if she puts her mind to it.
Well written, short chapters and fast paced! A well deserved four stars it not everyday that I devour a book this quickly. Highly recommend.
September 9, 2024
Narration was excellent!
Amy is a lonely woman who is a loner by choice. She’s still not sure of who she is or even why she does some things.
Her past has shaped her but not always in a good way. Who she was vs who she is now collide and she goes down a strange path of trying to rediscover herself. Why she does what she does is a mystery to herself so it definitely is to the reader as well.
I enjoyed this mystery and the characters. I like how they all seemed to watch out for Amy.
I’d definitely read or listen to more in this collection. It appears each stands alone.
Amy is a lonely woman who is a loner by choice. She’s still not sure of who she is or even why she does some things.
Her past has shaped her but not always in a good way. Who she was vs who she is now collide and she goes down a strange path of trying to rediscover herself. Why she does what she does is a mystery to herself so it definitely is to the reader as well.
I enjoyed this mystery and the characters. I like how they all seemed to watch out for Amy.
I’d definitely read or listen to more in this collection. It appears each stands alone.
October 23, 2018
Gritty, atmospheric, immersive, and permeated with that quality that manages to make the narrative feel hopeless and full of hope all at once. The Lonely Witness is everything I love about noir.
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