I've not been coy about my excitement for Antoine Wilson's first novel The Interloper. It is dark and funny all at once - and what have I been saying about dark & funny? Divine! So few writers can pull it off well and Wilson makes it happen.
While it is my own fault that I didn't beat the LA Times to the review (because I should have, but was too busy interviewing him), I'm delighted to know that Jess Walter agrees with me, for the most part:
"Oh, what thrilling dread, falling in with a character as twisted as the narrator of Antoine Wilson's terrific first novel, "The Interloper." It's like leaving a party with a designated driver, only to discover as you swerve down the driveway that your new friend is drunker than you are. Or worse, completely insane."
The dark/creepy/funny bit:
"A contributing editor for the fine literary magazine A Public Space, Wilson writes a clean, restrained line that works well for the setup and for the creeping fun that follows: a manic, darkly comic descent into delusional obsession."
My equally comic interview with Antoine Wilson will be up at LAist next week. I know your TBR piles grow ever-higher, but I suggest you add this one to the tippy-top. I'd love to hear your thoughts.