I’m not shy about letting people know that Kelley Eskridge’s debut novel Solitaire is possibly my favorite book I’ve read in the last decade. It was shocking to me that it was her first novel because it was so firm handed that I’d have easily believed it was her dozenth. She had opportunities to soften the blow and let her protagonist off the moral hook and she never did. I was impressed with her courage as an author to never take the easy way out and the book is stronger for it.
I wrote up a review on this very blog in 2002, and now that book is back in print from Small Beer Press. I own the hardcover of the book but I bought the Kindle copy yesterday as well, just to always have it with me. I never reread books and I’m going to reread this one.
Kelley is one of my favorite people in this world and she is one of my favorite writers in this world. I strongly urge anyone with an interest in science fiction or tough minded psychological fiction to pick this book up. It is a tour de force. In fact, I’ll go ahead and offer my money back guarantee – if you buy it and don’t like it, I’ll buy the book from you. I stand behind it that firmly.
You can buy it from Amazon, from Weightless Books in electronic format, from Barnes and Noble or from your local store. However you choose to go out and get it, I suggest that you do it. This is a book that will leave you with a different world view coming out than you went in with. The number of authors who’ve done that to me is vanishingly small: J. G. Ballard, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Kelley. Read the book, you’ll be glad you did.