Osborne is the bard of modern-day expat noir, and in On Java Road he s outdone himself, packing the usual preoccupations (estrangement, existential ennui, spiritual restlessness) in unceasingly compelling surroundings: Hong Kong in tumult . . . [bringing] together a story of privilege, wealth, passion, and loyalty, while also providing incisive cultural insights and full-blooded characters. Osborne s prose is as precise and observant as ever, and On Java Road is a novel that will leave readers shaken long after they ve finished reading. CrimeReads
This winning mystery from Osborne . . . makes a city beset by unrest, countered by harsh repression, feel palpable, and the dynamic between two college friends of different socioeconomic backgrounds will remind many of Brideshead Revisited. Those patient enough to wait for the mystery plotline to kick in will be rewarded. Publishers Weekly
An atmospheric thriller set in a Hong Kong convulsed by student protests . . . The book is like a whodunit turned inside out. . . . Hong Kong comes fiercely alive on the page, and Osborne s command of complex history, geography, and politics (and poetry) is nuanced and sure-handed. . . . Moody and compelling. Kirkus Reviews
Praise for Lawrence Osborne
A startlingly good observer of privilege, noting the rites and rituals of the upper classes with unerring precision and an undercurrent of malice. Katie Kitamura, The New York Times Book Review
Unites Graham Greene s fondness for foreign soil with Patricia Highsmith s fascination with the nastier coils of the human psyche . . . What makes Osborne s work so compelling is that it s ruthlessly unpredictable. NPR
Mr. Osborne has a keen and sometimes cruel eye for humans and their manners and morals. . . . Surprising and dark and excellent. The New York Times
Lawrence Osborne is the author of seven critically acclaimed novels, including The Forgiven (soon to be a major motion picture starring Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain), The Glass Kingdom, a New York Times Notable Book, and Only to Sleep: A Philip Marlowe Novel, which was nominated for an Edgar Award and named as a best book of the year by The New York Times Book Review, as well as six books of nonfiction, including Bangkok Days. He has led a nomadic life, living in Paris, New York, Mexico, and Istanbul, and he currently resides in Bangkok.