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Kings County
Seven years in the making, from critically acclaimed novelist and memoirist David Goodwillie, Kings County is an ambitious, exuberant, and wholly unforgettable tale of two star-crossed lovers in 21st-century Brooklyn, whose lives are torn apart after their deepest secrets come to light.
It’s the early 2000s and like generations of intrepid young hopefuls before her, Audrey Benton arrives in New York City on a bus in the dead of winter, eager to escape her troubled past. Broke but resourceful, she soon finds a home for herself amid the burgeoning music scene in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. But the city’s freedom comes with risks, and Audrey makes dangerous compromises to survive. As she becomes a minor celebrity in indie music circles, she finds an unlikely match in Theo Gorski, a shy but idealistic mill-town kid—the first in his family to attend college—who’s struggling to establish himself in the still-patrician world of books. As artistic “Brooklyn” explodes around them, the young lovers forge a bond as unlikely as it is unbreakable. But when an old friend from Audrey’s past disappears under mysterious circumstances, it sparks a dangerous series of escalating crises that force her and Theo to confront, head on, a shocking secret that threatens not just their relationship, but their very lives.
From the raucous protests of Occupy Wall Street to the hushed halls of the publishing world, from million-dollar art auctions to late-night Bushwick drug dens, Kings County captures New York City at a heightened moment of cultural reckoning. Confronting the resonant issues and themes of our time—sex and violence, art and commerce, friendship and family—it’s a new kind of love story, both coolly classic and vividly contemporary, that dazzles with wit and moral resonance, with two unforgettable characters at its core. Richly plotted and deeply humane, Kings County is an epic coming-of-age tale about bravery, consequences, and finding one’s place in an ever-changing world.
It’s the early 2000s and like generations of intrepid young hopefuls before her, Audrey Benton arrives in New York City on a bus in the dead of winter, eager to escape her troubled past. Broke but resourceful, she soon finds a home for herself amid the burgeoning music scene in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. But the city’s freedom comes with risks, and Audrey makes dangerous compromises to survive. As she becomes a minor celebrity in indie music circles, she finds an unlikely match in Theo Gorski, a shy but idealistic mill-town kid—the first in his family to attend college—who’s struggling to establish himself in the still-patrician world of books. As artistic “Brooklyn” explodes around them, the young lovers forge a bond as unlikely as it is unbreakable. But when an old friend from Audrey’s past disappears under mysterious circumstances, it sparks a dangerous series of escalating crises that force her and Theo to confront, head on, a shocking secret that threatens not just their relationship, but their very lives.
From the raucous protests of Occupy Wall Street to the hushed halls of the publishing world, from million-dollar art auctions to late-night Bushwick drug dens, Kings County captures New York City at a heightened moment of cultural reckoning. Confronting the resonant issues and themes of our time—sex and violence, art and commerce, friendship and family—it’s a new kind of love story, both coolly classic and vividly contemporary, that dazzles with wit and moral resonance, with two unforgettable characters at its core. Richly plotted and deeply humane, Kings County is an epic coming-of-age tale about bravery, consequences, and finding one’s place in an ever-changing world.
432 pages, Hardcover
First published July 28, 2020
128 people are currently reading
4640 people want to read
About the author
David Goodwillie
7 books106 followersDavid Goodwillie is the author of the novels KINGS COUNTY (forthcoming 7/28/20) and AMERICAN SUBVERSIVE, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, along with the memoir SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME. Goodwillie has written about books for The New York Times and The Daily Beast, and his nonfiction has appeared in New York magazine, Newsweek, and Popular Science. He has also been drafted to play professional baseball, worked as a private investigator, and was an expert at Sotheby’s auction house. A graduate of Kenyon College, he lives in Brooklyn.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 139 reviews
April 10, 2020
I stayed up until two in the morning finishing this book last night, it was that good! I am going out on a limb and declaring Kings County as my favorite book so far of 2020.
A little background: This book follows the story of Audrey and Theo, a twenty-something couple living in Brooklyn in the early 2000s. They have both moved to New York to pursue artistic endeavors and establish independent identities for themselves after they both have experienced challenging upbringings. They establish their roots over the years, and then find one another and fall into an unexpected but deeply complimentary love. I would describe it as a coming-of-age story with an intriguing mystery and love story woven in. The writing is wonderfully atmospheric and quickly draws you into Audrey and Theo's lives in their little corner of Brooklyn. The story really takes off when a dark part of Audrey's past resurfaces and their relationship is put to the test. The pacing and rhythm of the storytelling pick up, and I could not put it down until I finished it.
I love character-driven novels and this one really delivered. Not only was it some of the best character development I have read in a long time, I loved Audrey and Theo; their humor, their quirks and their devotion to each other. I could see them being my friends in real life (if I was cool enough to work at an indie record label or publishing house).
For some comparison, it reminded me of my favorite parts of Ask Again, Yes and Long Bright River.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for the early copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
A little background: This book follows the story of Audrey and Theo, a twenty-something couple living in Brooklyn in the early 2000s. They have both moved to New York to pursue artistic endeavors and establish independent identities for themselves after they both have experienced challenging upbringings. They establish their roots over the years, and then find one another and fall into an unexpected but deeply complimentary love. I would describe it as a coming-of-age story with an intriguing mystery and love story woven in. The writing is wonderfully atmospheric and quickly draws you into Audrey and Theo's lives in their little corner of Brooklyn. The story really takes off when a dark part of Audrey's past resurfaces and their relationship is put to the test. The pacing and rhythm of the storytelling pick up, and I could not put it down until I finished it.
I love character-driven novels and this one really delivered. Not only was it some of the best character development I have read in a long time, I loved Audrey and Theo; their humor, their quirks and their devotion to each other. I could see them being my friends in real life (if I was cool enough to work at an indie record label or publishing house).
For some comparison, it reminded me of my favorite parts of Ask Again, Yes and Long Bright River.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for the early copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
dnf
July 21, 2020DNF around 10%.. I just found the writing to be trying a bit too hard to be 'cool,' especially with all the characterizations of Brooklyn and Manhattan, and the people who live there/how they live. Also, the narrative was really confusing in the very beginning, and I couldn't quite figure out what was going on. The third-person narration doesn't work the best for this story, I think. It may have been better as a first-person novel, though I'm not sure Theo or Audrey would be much better to read from. Both kind of annoy me a bit..
June 2, 2020
Thank you Netgalley and Avid Reader Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I have mixed feelings about this book. There were parts that were interesting and made me want to read further - specifically Audrey's work with bands and moving up the ladder in the music industry, as well as Theo trying to make it in the publishing world. But there were many, many parts that seemed too long and distracted from the main plot.
The author can write well in my opinion, but so many parts of this book are overly descriptive and give too much background, so that it turns boring. This may also be partly because I'm not a person who has ever been attracted to NYC. There are great descriptions of the city and I felt I was there, but I just didn't... care.
It may also be the wrong time for me to read this book - which says more about me than it does about the book. In a time when diversity in authors and characters is fighting for a place in publishing, this is a book with all white characters by a white man. In the time of black lives matter and protests roiling the US, this book has a character who wanders through an Occupy Wall Street protest, sees tons of police present, and notes that it's probably super safe because there are so many police nearby! Maybe it was to show how out of touch the character was, but it was really off-putting for me to read that.
I also cringed multiple times when the female main character thought things about herself that just seemed to be obviously about the male gaze. ("He took off my bra and my breasts barely fell at all, thank god"). This is not a direct quote and perhaps it'll be edited before final publication but it made me roll my eyes, as did her hips and cheeks and arms being described as burial mounds during sex - what??
Ok, I told myself not to get too negative but I felt I'd be remiss not to mention some of these things.
Good things - Audrey's grandma and friends on the Space Coast of Florida. I wanted more of them. The community there was so much more real and inviting than any community described in NYC that the characters were involved in.
Speaking of the characters, Audrey was the only one I somewhat liked. Theo was sooo dull from the first description of him. Maybe this was on purpose, in relation to things we learn later about Audrey's past and how she's looking for boring, stolid safety. Her other friends are pretty flaky and ditch her to be rich in another neighborhood.
Then (then!!) there's the mystery which you only learn about at 50% into the really long book. And then not much else happens regarding the mystery until the last 15% of the book.
Finally, I didn't like the use of the word indigenous to describe a group of indie hipsters living in an NYC neighborhood right before it gets gentrified. I'm sure there are other things that are more indigenous to the area (like indigenous people that were kicked out?!).
Well I can't deny that this book just isn't for me!
I have mixed feelings about this book. There were parts that were interesting and made me want to read further - specifically Audrey's work with bands and moving up the ladder in the music industry, as well as Theo trying to make it in the publishing world. But there were many, many parts that seemed too long and distracted from the main plot.
The author can write well in my opinion, but so many parts of this book are overly descriptive and give too much background, so that it turns boring. This may also be partly because I'm not a person who has ever been attracted to NYC. There are great descriptions of the city and I felt I was there, but I just didn't... care.
It may also be the wrong time for me to read this book - which says more about me than it does about the book. In a time when diversity in authors and characters is fighting for a place in publishing, this is a book with all white characters by a white man. In the time of black lives matter and protests roiling the US, this book has a character who wanders through an Occupy Wall Street protest, sees tons of police present, and notes that it's probably super safe because there are so many police nearby! Maybe it was to show how out of touch the character was, but it was really off-putting for me to read that.
I also cringed multiple times when the female main character thought things about herself that just seemed to be obviously about the male gaze. ("He took off my bra and my breasts barely fell at all, thank god"). This is not a direct quote and perhaps it'll be edited before final publication but it made me roll my eyes, as did her hips and cheeks and arms being described as burial mounds during sex - what??
Ok, I told myself not to get too negative but I felt I'd be remiss not to mention some of these things.
Good things - Audrey's grandma and friends on the Space Coast of Florida. I wanted more of them. The community there was so much more real and inviting than any community described in NYC that the characters were involved in.
Speaking of the characters, Audrey was the only one I somewhat liked. Theo was sooo dull from the first description of him. Maybe this was on purpose, in relation to things we learn later about Audrey's past and how she's looking for boring, stolid safety. Her other friends are pretty flaky and ditch her to be rich in another neighborhood.
Then (then!!) there's the mystery which you only learn about at 50% into the really long book. And then not much else happens regarding the mystery until the last 15% of the book.
Finally, I didn't like the use of the word indigenous to describe a group of indie hipsters living in an NYC neighborhood right before it gets gentrified. I'm sure there are other things that are more indigenous to the area (like indigenous people that were kicked out?!).
Well I can't deny that this book just isn't for me!
May 11, 2020
I'm calling this a mystery, because there is a mystery at the heart of the book, but it's more like a sprawling novel about life in New York in the manner of Tom Wolfe.
Most of the book takes place in Brooklyn and it's about a particular kind of young person who gravitates toward the city with a desire to find themselves. Art, commerce, real estate, music-- they all come together through these well-drawn characters.
I think this is a book people will be talking about for a while.
Most of the book takes place in Brooklyn and it's about a particular kind of young person who gravitates toward the city with a desire to find themselves. Art, commerce, real estate, music-- they all come together through these well-drawn characters.
I think this is a book people will be talking about for a while.
September 18, 2020
What this guy doesn't know about Brooklyn could fill a book.
Hey! Look at that! It does fill a book.
THIS one.
Hey! Look at that! It does fill a book.
THIS one.
August 30, 2021
I wasn't invested in this book until I became deeply invested in this book. The characters are wonderful and the plot is a true slow burn. Definitely a sleeper hit!
April 14, 2021
A novel focused on a trendy scene that everyone flocks to could easily be a satire in the mode of Bruce Wagner, whose Los Angelinos are so repugnantly cynical that you lose faith in humanity just reading about them. But this one is actually good. The characters are sympathetic and engaging, not simply there to be mocked. I found it surprising that Brooklyn could actually inspire this kind of sincerity. But maybe it's because Goodwillie’s subject is the Brooklyn of the Obama era, when it was still the alternative to Manhattan for bohemians of all stripes, artists, musicians, bartenders and waitresses who are wannabe actors, and addicts who are just scraping by, after Manhattan finally got too prohibitively expensive and depressingly filled with rich people. A mythical Brooklyn lives in the memory of these characters, who got there when it was still cool, and are now moving ever further out to the fringes as gentrification turns it into Manhattan lite.
These folks should probably be joining Occupy Wall Street to fight – or at least confront – the power, but instead they’re focused on the turmoil in their personal lives. Theo Gorski grew up in the decaying mill town Lawrence, Massachusetts, a product of its hopeless working class who escapes by means of football but wants to makes his career publishing, not just books, but literature. Equally sincere but much more alive to the present moment is Audrey Benton, who moved up from Florida, where she lived with her grandmother in a trailer park filled with ex-NASA employees and assorted other characters. These two form an unlikely but strong couple. What they seem to have in common is honesty and commitment. Audrey manages bands for a small record label. One of her bands, the Westfield Brothers, has been picked up by a major label, signaling a time of transition for everyone in the novel. Theo’s work in publishing is dwindling. The publishing house he worked for went under. His editor became a guy who turns books into movie ideas, and Theo just doesn’t seem to have a nose for that kind of stuff.
Audrey’s best friend Sarah now works for Sotheby’s and likes to buy new dresses and decorate the apartment she shares with Chris, who works on Wall Street and grew up on Park Avenue. Chris was attracted to the Bohemian girl Sarah used to be and their relationship is stuck in automatic while Chris cheats on Sarah with that kind of girl. Audrey and Theo’s love seems to highlight what’s wrong with Chris and Sarah’s, though as far as Sarah is concerned, Audrey’s devotion to the monastic poverty demanded by the music scene is nothing to wax nostalgic over. While Chris and Sarah seem headed for a permanent stalemate, Audrey and Theo face a challenge that at first tears them apart, one that demands of Theo that he, to put it in the simplest terms, man up in ways he never expected.
David Goodwillie also writes non-fiction for places like the NYT Sunday Magazine, and at first that highly detailed reporting style is not hard to spot. He misses nothing about these characters and the world they inhabit. Every block, every piece of clothing, every nightclub and after-hours dive and shoddy loft apartment, even a Sotheby’s auction and the doorman building where Chris and Sarah live, everything down to Occupy Wall street and the remarks that lifelong Wall Streeters make about it, is meticulously described. And yet, the character’s emotions enliven every moment, so the novel is never bogged down by this attention to detail. Instead, the reader is made to feel that she is getting to know something about the places described here, through the eyes of the people who inhabit them. The prose doesn’t call attention to itself, but its thoroughness is smart and incisive, and there’s muscle behind it. You can almost feel the needles going into the flesh of these characters, and just for the record, its mostly the women here who have the tattoos. And because Goodwillie isn’t shy of examining both where these characters are and where they came from, what he creates here is an authentic portrait of the American moment leading up to the one we’re in right now.
May 3, 2020
Highly recommend this book! I took my time reading it, but easily could have finished quickly. The characters were very well-developed, which I have not experienced in some other recent reading. I have found myself thinking about the characters and their stories many times since I finished. This was my first David Goodwillie book, and I look forward to reading more. Thank you NetGalley!
August 7, 2020
Good book, a little dense, but engaging and interesting!
August 7, 2020
Kings County follows Audrey Benton, a woman who arrived in early 2000s Brooklyn on a bus from nowhere ready to make a name for herself. Audrey finds ways to survive as a broke young woman and soon finds success in the indie music scene. Flashing backward to Audrey's beginnings in Brooklyn and chronicling her present in Occupy Wall Street New York, this novel synthesizes the things that make New York what it is -- endless possibilities, art, sex, violence, and attempts to make a secure future in a ever-transforming landscape that can get the best of people.
As I started Kings County, I knew I would love this book. There’s a moment, early on, when the writing is so engrossing and I love the rhythm of it, especially because music plays such a large role in the novel. The moment that got me is when Theo, Audrey’s book editor boyfriend, is standing in a bar, waiting to order drinks, and Goodwillie is describing the atmosphere: “Patience. Positioning. Incremental gains. God, this really was like football … Shaking and pouring, shaking and pouring, ice, ice, ice, and no one looking up. At least at him. It was the paradox at the center of Theo’s life.” I love the musicality of the storytelling, I love that you can hear and see the bar, and are also learning about the characters through a mundane interaction with their world—such as grabbing drinks at the bar.
This story offers a commentary on choices made, opportunities forgone, and combating the demons we bury. Specifically, what happens when vibrant and enticing city life brings together unlikely characters then pulls them apart and then brings them back together? Audrey and Sarah’s relationship is particularly compelling as a contemplation on female friendship. Audrey is the grittier of the two, having a more complicated past and desire to remain in Brooklyn’s music scene. Sarah and Audrey became friends through circumstance but morphed into roommates and then best friends. But as friends who became friends out of convenience, sharing an unknown bond, know, when the circumstances that bring people together change, the glue loosens and melts away until two people are just floating in each other’s orbits, but are no longer connected.
Sarah always saw her life roaming Brooklyn streets until the wee hours of the morning, downing drinks, and getting laid as temporary. When she meets Chris, the financier from a well-off family who finds excitement in dating a woman with a little roughness, Sarah decides to upgrade her life, which results in a distorted view of her best friend. Suddenly, the things she used to bond with Audrey over becomes the things she judges her for – staying in Brooklyn, her involvement in the music scene, and the fact that what Sarah always saw as temporary, Audrey made permanent.
Theo and Audrey fell in love quickly and unexpectedly – unexpectedly in so far as they don’t necessarily seem to fit together, but fit together they do. However, when a friend from Audrey’s past goes missing, the disappearance shines a light on secrets Audrey’s kept hidden and complicates her present. Theo and Audrey must reconcile the person they were the people they are and evaluate if the differences they find diminish their relationship.
This novel is a love story, a mystery, and a consideration of the paths we take that lead us away from people and back to them. Each character is genuinely imperfect, with things they hide and things they amplify in an effort to live the life they want. As soon as you begin reading, you’re in it. You feel like one of the gang, deep in early 2000s Brooklyn.
I highly recommend this book, particularly if you enjoy novels set in New York City, but want one that feels different from just another NYC novel.
As I started Kings County, I knew I would love this book. There’s a moment, early on, when the writing is so engrossing and I love the rhythm of it, especially because music plays such a large role in the novel. The moment that got me is when Theo, Audrey’s book editor boyfriend, is standing in a bar, waiting to order drinks, and Goodwillie is describing the atmosphere: “Patience. Positioning. Incremental gains. God, this really was like football … Shaking and pouring, shaking and pouring, ice, ice, ice, and no one looking up. At least at him. It was the paradox at the center of Theo’s life.” I love the musicality of the storytelling, I love that you can hear and see the bar, and are also learning about the characters through a mundane interaction with their world—such as grabbing drinks at the bar.
This story offers a commentary on choices made, opportunities forgone, and combating the demons we bury. Specifically, what happens when vibrant and enticing city life brings together unlikely characters then pulls them apart and then brings them back together? Audrey and Sarah’s relationship is particularly compelling as a contemplation on female friendship. Audrey is the grittier of the two, having a more complicated past and desire to remain in Brooklyn’s music scene. Sarah and Audrey became friends through circumstance but morphed into roommates and then best friends. But as friends who became friends out of convenience, sharing an unknown bond, know, when the circumstances that bring people together change, the glue loosens and melts away until two people are just floating in each other’s orbits, but are no longer connected.
Sarah always saw her life roaming Brooklyn streets until the wee hours of the morning, downing drinks, and getting laid as temporary. When she meets Chris, the financier from a well-off family who finds excitement in dating a woman with a little roughness, Sarah decides to upgrade her life, which results in a distorted view of her best friend. Suddenly, the things she used to bond with Audrey over becomes the things she judges her for – staying in Brooklyn, her involvement in the music scene, and the fact that what Sarah always saw as temporary, Audrey made permanent.
Theo and Audrey fell in love quickly and unexpectedly – unexpectedly in so far as they don’t necessarily seem to fit together, but fit together they do. However, when a friend from Audrey’s past goes missing, the disappearance shines a light on secrets Audrey’s kept hidden and complicates her present. Theo and Audrey must reconcile the person they were the people they are and evaluate if the differences they find diminish their relationship.
This novel is a love story, a mystery, and a consideration of the paths we take that lead us away from people and back to them. Each character is genuinely imperfect, with things they hide and things they amplify in an effort to live the life they want. As soon as you begin reading, you’re in it. You feel like one of the gang, deep in early 2000s Brooklyn.
I highly recommend this book, particularly if you enjoy novels set in New York City, but want one that feels different from just another NYC novel.
July 28, 2020
Thank you NetGalley, Avid Reader Press, and David Goodwillie for free, early access to this book to read and provide my honest review.
I really wanted to love this book, based on the entire idea that it was a coming of age story set in the cultural enclave of the NYC borough, Brooklyn. Unfortunately, I was let down by most of the story and struggled to read the book. I often found myself putting it down and considering not finishing it, but I willed myself to finish it because there were parts that David Goodwillie did well.
I was intrigued by the stories within the story, often the "named" chapters, and I wished many of them were expanded upon because they seemed to give the reader great insight into the character and their life story. For example, learning about Theo's life growing up in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Audrey's experience in Florida. I am saddened these were some of my favorite parts of the book because I really wanted to reminisce about the summer I spent in Brooklyn and also experience a part of Brooklyn I wasn't able to experience. Instead, I felt the entire story was full of angst between the constant mention of the Occupy movement, (what felt like) constant talk of illicit drugs, and what I felt were misogynistic and culturally insensitive comments (racist & colorist) comments. I can see what the author is trying to create a visual for the reader, but given the state of the country (and the world) it just didn't sit well with me.
It is very possible this book wasn't for me at this point in time. I definitely think there is an audience for this book that will fall in love with Theo and Audrey's story.
I really wanted to love this book, based on the entire idea that it was a coming of age story set in the cultural enclave of the NYC borough, Brooklyn. Unfortunately, I was let down by most of the story and struggled to read the book. I often found myself putting it down and considering not finishing it, but I willed myself to finish it because there were parts that David Goodwillie did well.
I was intrigued by the stories within the story, often the "named" chapters, and I wished many of them were expanded upon because they seemed to give the reader great insight into the character and their life story. For example, learning about Theo's life growing up in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Audrey's experience in Florida. I am saddened these were some of my favorite parts of the book because I really wanted to reminisce about the summer I spent in Brooklyn and also experience a part of Brooklyn I wasn't able to experience. Instead, I felt the entire story was full of angst between the constant mention of the Occupy movement, (what felt like) constant talk of illicit drugs, and what I felt were misogynistic and culturally insensitive comments (racist & colorist) comments. I can see what the author is trying to create a visual for the reader, but given the state of the country (and the world) it just didn't sit well with me.
It is very possible this book wasn't for me at this point in time. I definitely think there is an audience for this book that will fall in love with Theo and Audrey's story.
September 14, 2020
Too much unnecessary backstory made this book difficult to get through. Picks up in the last 100 pages but still took me a month to finish.
July 9, 2023
I bought his book a couple of years ago and it sat far too-long on my shelf. I saw the reviews were mixed so it turned me off, but I am happy to say I was pleasantly surprised.
It begins a bit dense with detail but as the book progresses the story hooked me in. A story of love for New York and Brooklyn as well as the dynamics of young love. A group of 20 something’s, from varying backgrounds, trying to find their identity in the chaos of the city. Then, a blackmail plot that comes back to haunt the entire group.
The writing was exceptional. I think this book deserves a lot more attention than it received.
TW: Sexual assault, drug use
“How strange to journey through life, knowing where the road not taken leads as well.”
It begins a bit dense with detail but as the book progresses the story hooked me in. A story of love for New York and Brooklyn as well as the dynamics of young love. A group of 20 something’s, from varying backgrounds, trying to find their identity in the chaos of the city. Then, a blackmail plot that comes back to haunt the entire group.
The writing was exceptional. I think this book deserves a lot more attention than it received.
TW: Sexual assault, drug use
“How strange to journey through life, knowing where the road not taken leads as well.”
July 11, 2020
Audrey Benton arrives in New York City on a bus from nowhere in the early 2000s. Broke but resourceful, she soon finds a home for herself amid the burgeoning music scene in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. As she becomes a minor celebrity in indie rock circles, she finds an unlikely match in Theo Gorski, a shy but idealistic mill-town kid who’s struggling to establish himself in the world of publishing. But then an old acquaintance of Audrey’s disappears under mysterious circumstances, sparking a series of escalating crises that force the couple to confront a dangerous secret from her past and their relationship as a whole.
This book is hands-down my favorite of 2020. It is a literary fiction while managing to bring in elements of a thriller/mystery. A possible suicide is the central catalyst of the plot; however the book is about so much more. At the heart of the book is the relationship of Audrey and Theo, two thirty-something starving creatives in Bushwick. I’ll admit the beginning started off slow. The book is very description-heavy, which I quite enjoyed as a fan of literary fiction, but it meant that I couldn’t speed through the book. But, by the halfway point I was hooked and finished the second half of the book in a day. I nearly raced through the second half, craving answers to the mysteries that David Goodwillie slowly reveals throughout the opening chapters. I loved the story from the beginning, but the ending really got me. This story is full of masterly crafted plot twists that kept me hooked on every word. I’m calling it now, this book is my favorite book of 2020, and David Goodwillie is my new favorite author.
Thank you David Goodwillie, Avid Reader Press, Simon and Schuster, and Netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book is hands-down my favorite of 2020. It is a literary fiction while managing to bring in elements of a thriller/mystery. A possible suicide is the central catalyst of the plot; however the book is about so much more. At the heart of the book is the relationship of Audrey and Theo, two thirty-something starving creatives in Bushwick. I’ll admit the beginning started off slow. The book is very description-heavy, which I quite enjoyed as a fan of literary fiction, but it meant that I couldn’t speed through the book. But, by the halfway point I was hooked and finished the second half of the book in a day. I nearly raced through the second half, craving answers to the mysteries that David Goodwillie slowly reveals throughout the opening chapters. I loved the story from the beginning, but the ending really got me. This story is full of masterly crafted plot twists that kept me hooked on every word. I’m calling it now, this book is my favorite book of 2020, and David Goodwillie is my new favorite author.
Thank you David Goodwillie, Avid Reader Press, Simon and Schuster, and Netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
July 5, 2021
Although there are a few red flags in the author's handling of writing a female character, I cannot deny that KINGS COUNTY absolutely delighted me and it's a clear 5-star read. This one came out just under a year ago and I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to dig in. Set mostly in 2011 Brooklyn, a setting I know extremely well, the story follows two thirty-something misfits who have found each other in the jungle of New York City but have their relationship tests as secrets from the past begin to surface in thrilling and unexpected ways.
I love an epic book that spans decades and has both a solid plot and the time to dig deep into characters. This one totally delivers and while it's dense, and the ending will have to racing to finish at the expense of having to stop yourself from skimming, if you are a New Yorker (especially if you were there in the late 2000s, and early 2010s, you will love all the specific references and indie band name droppings) or simply enjoy a good story told well, this is one that you cannot miss. The paperback comes out on July 13th, 2021! Thank you to Avid Press for allowing me to review an advanced copy.
I love an epic book that spans decades and has both a solid plot and the time to dig deep into characters. This one totally delivers and while it's dense, and the ending will have to racing to finish at the expense of having to stop yourself from skimming, if you are a New Yorker (especially if you were there in the late 2000s, and early 2010s, you will love all the specific references and indie band name droppings) or simply enjoy a good story told well, this is one that you cannot miss. The paperback comes out on July 13th, 2021! Thank you to Avid Press for allowing me to review an advanced copy.
December 10, 2020
Went into King County having read a quick synopsis, and I can say it was nothing like what I was expecting it to be. One chapter in, and I assumed it was going to move along the lines of Daisy Jones and the Six or Perfect Tunes - heavily music/band focused, and that turned out not to be the case.
This is actually a slow burn mystery/drama that spans a lot of different characters and a lot of different places (in addition to New York, Cape Canaveral Florida and Lawrence Mass are also heavily discussed). It's a long story (at some times I thought a little too long), but I did like the jumping back and forth in time - I think it helped the story flow well. Overall, I didn't *love* it, but it's a solid drama that I think would make a great mini series.
3.5 stars
CW* Sexual Assault
This is actually a slow burn mystery/drama that spans a lot of different characters and a lot of different places (in addition to New York, Cape Canaveral Florida and Lawrence Mass are also heavily discussed). It's a long story (at some times I thought a little too long), but I did like the jumping back and forth in time - I think it helped the story flow well. Overall, I didn't *love* it, but it's a solid drama that I think would make a great mini series.
3.5 stars
CW* Sexual Assault
December 2, 2020
I love this book so much. When I started reading it, it had <200 Goodreads ratings. Why isn’t this book selling at all? It came out months ago, was published by a major house and got a really good review in the New York Times Book Review. If someone who understands the publishing industry sees this, can you tell me how this happens?
Goodwillie’s prose is beautiful, it reads like a text version of watching those ASMR videos where they play with slime or cut kinetic sand or whatever. The indie rock name dropping was on point, and it made me nostalgic for what the Brooklyn music scene used to be, and nostalgic for the Obama years. Such a beautiful, immersive story.
Goodwillie’s prose is beautiful, it reads like a text version of watching those ASMR videos where they play with slime or cut kinetic sand or whatever. The indie rock name dropping was on point, and it made me nostalgic for what the Brooklyn music scene used to be, and nostalgic for the Obama years. Such a beautiful, immersive story.
August 11, 2020
The beginning of this book was just too much. Too much backstory, too much description, too much meandering, that I almost put it down. But I won it from Goodreads and wanted to be able to give an honest review, so I slogged on.
It’s hard to even figure out what the plot is until about halfway through and it takes a lot for a reader to stick with it. But, if you do, you will be glad you did. It was a struggle to read the first 60% of this book, but once I was past that, I couldn’t put it down.
So, for me, the beginning gets a 1 and the ending a 5, so 3 stars.
It’s hard to even figure out what the plot is until about halfway through and it takes a lot for a reader to stick with it. But, if you do, you will be glad you did. It was a struggle to read the first 60% of this book, but once I was past that, I couldn’t put it down.
So, for me, the beginning gets a 1 and the ending a 5, so 3 stars.
August 6, 2020
Part mystery, part examination of two couples, but what the book really is is a wonderful ode to the Brooklyn of 2010. To the streets and parks and bars and especially the up and coming bands. But it’s not all just atmosphere. At the heart is a great love story about Audrey, who works in the indie music scene, and Theo, her book obsessed boyfriend. Wonderful and epic in examination of these two.
November 7, 2020
Was not great! Super long and wrapped up in a nice bow within the last 12 pages. Pick something else!!!
-Anonymous
-Anonymous
February 22, 2022
All fiction is a kind of detective fiction, a quest for resolution, for finding answers, things, or people. Kings County does all of that while also offering urban tableaus, love autopsies, and tender character vignettes.
First, the book is a pure pleasure to read. Goodwillie is a master of achingly beautiful turns of phrase (“thousand secret doors of youth,” “a projection of our desire to be surrounded by excitement,” “tempered weariness of prolonged creative struggle”). Even his grammar has a muted sexiness about it. Plus, there is some cracking good dialogue (especially with Carl Gorski), impeccable character-driven chapters (Theo’s subway ride and the art auction especially), and some observant notes on feline behavior.
This neo-noirish story starts out with what feels like kids innocently skipping school but turns deadly early. The crime fiction adjacency is also what gives the novel a certain timelessness despite the clear time markers of the early Internet, Occupy Wall Street, or then-existing landmark bars and hangouts. The analog is what so often propels the story forward: phone numbers and addresses written on pieces of paper, getting lost, shopping in bookstores, envelopes with threats, anonymity online, printed manuscripts, actual letters. Every novel a time machine, this one could sit next to Sister Carrie at the library. In the underground club scene near Whale Creek, one can almost recognize the gritty and undated city of Lawrence Block.
There is something pleasantly slow and deliberate about Goodwillie’s narrative, perhaps in that it focuses more on the interiority of the characters, filling in their outlines with minute details which allow the reader to enter with sympathy into their experience. Borrowing from Tolstoy, each is intriguingly troubled in their own way: Audrey is a NYC everywoman, almost impossibly so. Fender - a nameless enigma. Sarah is a shapeshifter while Chris is fighting his own obsolescence. And then, there is Theo. A bookish football player, modest and noncommercial in the most vain, for-profit place on earth. Not made for this world, he is the signal in the noise. Some of my favorite scenes involve Theo elevating his and Audrey’s everyday prosaic walks around the city by excavating local history, turning the trivial transcendent.
After Audrey’s dramatic epistolary confession, things begin to move with kinetic energy, the book’s finest paragraphs punctuated only with commas, gaining speed, becoming imperative, breathless. The narrative shifts to the present tense, and its urgency is masterful. At my first furious reading of the final chapters, I skipped more than one paragraph to faster arrive at the resolution. The final scenes with Theo traversing upper Manhattan - dark and threatening in its inevitability - reminded me at once of Chester Himes’ Harlem Detectives series and the ending of Paul Auster’s City of Glass, adding substance to the mystery fiction designation.
Throughout, Goodwillie achieves suspense alternating Theo and Audrey’s stories, separating his characters by geography, time, and chapter order. Isolated from each other for large parts of the novel, they seem destined for failure. I found echoes of the author’s earlier novel American Subversive here, in exploring actions that are morally justified yet legally less so, with the denouement - this time - playing out in favor of the characters. Still, I did miss a more intimate coming to terms with Audrey’s assault, an all-consuming event that “ends in a whimper” in the final chapter.
Kings County characterizes Williamsburg with enough self awareness to avoid caricature. It is a relatable universe for many who have lived in NYC some time in the last two or so decades. I, too, worked next to Zuccotti Square during Occupy, was in charge of the ‘slush pile’ at a literary agency where I interned, and subbed in a few co-ed softball games in McCarren Park. That the book already belongs on the ‘Future Nostalgia’ shelf is only fitting for a novel preoccupied with transformation and change. In 2022, the real-life locales such as Enid’s are gone, along with Rosemary’s and the Abbey. That old Williamsburg is both preserved in one’s mind but also vaporized, a place we continually say goodbye to without actually leaving. That’s where the strength of the writing lies - in its selective remembering. Kings County is a heady mezcal drink served in a mason jar - very 2010 Williamsburg, and very, very good.
First, the book is a pure pleasure to read. Goodwillie is a master of achingly beautiful turns of phrase (“thousand secret doors of youth,” “a projection of our desire to be surrounded by excitement,” “tempered weariness of prolonged creative struggle”). Even his grammar has a muted sexiness about it. Plus, there is some cracking good dialogue (especially with Carl Gorski), impeccable character-driven chapters (Theo’s subway ride and the art auction especially), and some observant notes on feline behavior.
This neo-noirish story starts out with what feels like kids innocently skipping school but turns deadly early. The crime fiction adjacency is also what gives the novel a certain timelessness despite the clear time markers of the early Internet, Occupy Wall Street, or then-existing landmark bars and hangouts. The analog is what so often propels the story forward: phone numbers and addresses written on pieces of paper, getting lost, shopping in bookstores, envelopes with threats, anonymity online, printed manuscripts, actual letters. Every novel a time machine, this one could sit next to Sister Carrie at the library. In the underground club scene near Whale Creek, one can almost recognize the gritty and undated city of Lawrence Block.
There is something pleasantly slow and deliberate about Goodwillie’s narrative, perhaps in that it focuses more on the interiority of the characters, filling in their outlines with minute details which allow the reader to enter with sympathy into their experience. Borrowing from Tolstoy, each is intriguingly troubled in their own way: Audrey is a NYC everywoman, almost impossibly so. Fender - a nameless enigma. Sarah is a shapeshifter while Chris is fighting his own obsolescence. And then, there is Theo. A bookish football player, modest and noncommercial in the most vain, for-profit place on earth. Not made for this world, he is the signal in the noise. Some of my favorite scenes involve Theo elevating his and Audrey’s everyday prosaic walks around the city by excavating local history, turning the trivial transcendent.
After Audrey’s dramatic epistolary confession, things begin to move with kinetic energy, the book’s finest paragraphs punctuated only with commas, gaining speed, becoming imperative, breathless. The narrative shifts to the present tense, and its urgency is masterful. At my first furious reading of the final chapters, I skipped more than one paragraph to faster arrive at the resolution. The final scenes with Theo traversing upper Manhattan - dark and threatening in its inevitability - reminded me at once of Chester Himes’ Harlem Detectives series and the ending of Paul Auster’s City of Glass, adding substance to the mystery fiction designation.
Throughout, Goodwillie achieves suspense alternating Theo and Audrey’s stories, separating his characters by geography, time, and chapter order. Isolated from each other for large parts of the novel, they seem destined for failure. I found echoes of the author’s earlier novel American Subversive here, in exploring actions that are morally justified yet legally less so, with the denouement - this time - playing out in favor of the characters. Still, I did miss a more intimate coming to terms with Audrey’s assault, an all-consuming event that “ends in a whimper” in the final chapter.
Kings County characterizes Williamsburg with enough self awareness to avoid caricature. It is a relatable universe for many who have lived in NYC some time in the last two or so decades. I, too, worked next to Zuccotti Square during Occupy, was in charge of the ‘slush pile’ at a literary agency where I interned, and subbed in a few co-ed softball games in McCarren Park. That the book already belongs on the ‘Future Nostalgia’ shelf is only fitting for a novel preoccupied with transformation and change. In 2022, the real-life locales such as Enid’s are gone, along with Rosemary’s and the Abbey. That old Williamsburg is both preserved in one’s mind but also vaporized, a place we continually say goodbye to without actually leaving. That’s where the strength of the writing lies - in its selective remembering. Kings County is a heady mezcal drink served in a mason jar - very 2010 Williamsburg, and very, very good.
December 9, 2020
On the plus side, this book kept my attention during this strange time when I don't always have the focus to stay with a novel. Although the book became increasingly frustrating as it went along (and became a different type of book - sort of), I finished it.
I really liked the characters who populate the two main characters' origin stories, namely the people in the trailer park where Audrey grows up in Cape Canaveral and the people from Theo's hometown in Massachusetts. They felt real and nuanced and interesting.
Pretty much everything else was riddled with issues for me. I would invite you to scroll down to Celeste Miller's excellent review below as that pretty much summarizes most of it.
I really liked the characters who populate the two main characters' origin stories, namely the people in the trailer park where Audrey grows up in Cape Canaveral and the people from Theo's hometown in Massachusetts. They felt real and nuanced and interesting.
Pretty much everything else was riddled with issues for me. I would invite you to scroll down to Celeste Miller's excellent review below as that pretty much summarizes most of it.
August 23, 2025
I bought this book at my local used bookstore and the woman at the front desk told me this author is in there all the time so I was going to spare my neighbor the bad review BUT! I actually DNF’d this 300/400 pages in - besides knowledge of the local willyb hotspots this book had zero redeeming qualities. Particularly hated how he kept calling his characters by their first and last names. The bad guy is a debt underwriter which just makes me laugh. Could not waste anymore time on this but i’m counting it as finished since i can do whatever I want
December 21, 2022
I really enjoyed this, even if some of the tangents were EXTREMELY tangentical. There was a point when I didn't realize it had skipped back in time to when Audrey was younger and thought, "Why is this suddenly a book about a trailer park in Florida...?" I enjoyed it once I got things figured out. The mystery at the center was basically a means to an end, with a mildly disappointing and anticlimactic finish.
September 4, 2023
Kinda torn about this book. It was well written in some parts but then definitely got a bit dense. A good nyc love letter but I almost feel like I could have done without the whole (kinda spoiler sorry) suicide plot line. But then that was basically half the book which makes me think I didn’t like it? But liked the other story lines besides that?
September 12, 2021
4.5 stars. This is very good literary fiction - there’s a central romance, a side of mystery, and a wonderful depth of writing and character development. It stars as a slow burn, but picks up in the second half in a way that I didn’t want to put it down.
August 14, 2023
so glad i waited to read this til i moved to nyc! moving and thrilling and heartbreaking all at once. shoutout to cousin david for my signed copy :-) can’t overstate how cool it is to see my last name all over a book
November 6, 2020
Good story, well told
November 15, 2020
The writing was so beautiful, but I got lost a few times in the story as I felt disconnected. It was a beautiful story nonetheless!!!
July 24, 2021
4.5 stars for this satisfying, genre-blending story of love, class and determination among a group of Brooklyn not-so-hipsters.
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