The Terror of Living [Kindle Edition]

A hell of a good novel, relentlessly paced and beautifully narrated. --Stephen King

Readers will be following Urban Waite for years to come. --Michael Koryta

"A hell of a good novel, relentlessly paced and beautifully narrated. There's just no let-up. Waite's style is tight and taut... This job sometimes feels like you're shouting into a void. He isn't. This is good. I bet the next one will be even better. Strong narrative voice, auspicious debut" Stephen King 'The Terror of Living is a smart, swiftly-paced and bloody Western for our moment. Urban Waite is a writer who won't let a reader wander away -- he keeps you reading, and reading, and rewards all your attention with a powerhouse story and prose to match' Daniel Woodrell 'In the tradition of No Country for Old Men, Urban Waite has written a nail-biter that takes off from the get-go and never stops, a book chock full of memorable characters and kick-ass writing. Clear your calendar before reading this one, folks, because once you start there's no stopping until the end, which arrived much too quickly for this reader. A smashing debut' Tom Franklin 'THE TERROR OF LIVING opens with gentle beauty, calm before a bloody storm, before building intensity with swift, jarring and confident storytelling power. A fine debut from a writer of obvious and substantial talents. Readers, including this one, will certainly be following Urban Waite for years to come' Michael Koryta 'A supercharged suspenseful thriller peopled by colourful characters and driven by terrifying events that begin at mach speed and never slow for a moment. Supremely cinematic' Joe Wambaugh 'Urban Waite is a writer who knows what he's doing and this killer novel drives that home every hard-charging step of the way. In Waite's hands, scenes come at you like bursts of machine gun fire, and it's testament to his skill -- setting that pops off the page, dialogue that crackles, characters you can't help but care about -- that you won't want them to stop hitting' Josh Weil 'This is the Golden Age of literary crime fiction, and Urban Waite delivers a beautiful and powerful new voice with The Terror of Living. Washington State in his hands comes as alive as Louisiana does in the novels of James Lee Burke' Otto Penzler, editor of Best American Noir of the Century 'Absorbing and atmospheric debut thriller' The Bookseller new titles round-up 'Urban Waite's The Terror of Living' is a desperate chase involving a sheriff, a small-time drug trafficker and a heartless drug grandee. Set in the mountains around Seattle, this is a chilling and thrilling read. It has hints of Stef Penney's The Tenderness of Wolves and Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men and is a nailbiting book' Patrick Neale, The Bookseller 'In a blood-spattered chase that winds from the Cascade Mountains in Central Washington to Seattle and back again, first-novelist Urban Waite never eases the throttle, but even at high speed, it's the interplay between the characters that gives the novel its power. An outstanding debut.' Booklist '[A] promising debut... Waite eloquently depicts men in turmoil for whom the choice isn't necessarily between right and wrong but where to draw the line' Publishers Weekly 'After a drug drop goes awry, ex-cons, drug lords, a psychopath and law officers play seek and maim in the Pacific Northwest in this debut thriller... The pursuits that follow are complicated and play out in sharply written, swiftly paced scenes. But as the book's prose...and its violence-in a stark Cormac McCarthy landscape-suggest, Waite aims for more than a straightforward thriller... the meticulously calibrated prose, rushing narrative and sympathetic protagonists mark Waite as a rewarding, promising writer' Kirkus 'The defining quality of Urban Waite's gripping existential thriller is an elegant sparseness, which inevitably recalls Cormac McCarthy... a psychological murkiness counterpoints the plot's finely tuned mechanics' Financial Times 'One cannot help but recall Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men" while reading Waite's novel... Soon, though, Waite's own story and his smooth prose take over so completely that all that matters is what happens next' San Francisco Chronicle (Associated Press review USA) 'The Terror of Living is a breathtaking debut from a 30-year-old who writes as if he's been working at it for decades. This is a chase, a thriller, a western and a character study that combines everything in a beautiful poetic prose that owes a bit to writers such as James Lee Burke and Cormac McCarthy... Save this one for a weekend' Globe and Mail 'More artistry than would seem possible in a conventional thriller. His descriptions of the stark beauty of the mountains have a calming effect on the intensity of the cinematic action scenes. And the surprising delicacy of the writing also makes it easier to bear the raw violence done to man and beast. Waite is most eloquent when he's probing the interior lives of the men locked in this contest of will and endurance... No matter who fails to survive, these characters all deserve to be mourned' New York Times 'Reads like a Pacific Northwest remake of a Cormac McCarthy classic... Waite brings a nimble touch to the material... Lines are rendered with surprising delicacy, and the knife-fetishist villain makes for an oddly endearing sociopath. Also, what a title!' Entertainment Weekly 'Formidable... unfolds in short and all too memorably violent sequences, yet the author also allows his characters room to wrestle with private demons as the intense, often gruesome tale races towards its satisfying resolution' Wall Street Journal 'From a horse ranch in Auburn to the remote North Cascades and points in between, the book moves at top speed... But the killer is not the book's main focus. The Terror of Living is instead the story of two essentially good men who find themselves on opposite sides of the law - but who have more than they might wish in common... Waite writes convincingly about the joys of the wilderness, and he wisely keeps his focus on the interplay between the two main characters in this sure-footed debut' The Seattle Times 'A] superbly written chase novel set in Washington State... A cat-and-mouse pursuit, gut-clenching violence, loyalties sundered -- all come with the genre. What is rarer is the finely honed literary sensibility of the writer, who conveys the sensory reality of his settings with evocative exactitude... Waite's considerable talent in general serves him well' The Houston Chronicle 'Make a note of the name -- for this debut heralds the arrival of a 30 year old thriller writer who might just become a star. Supremely spare, with cool prose and a bleak eye for character, it creates a vivid world that reminds you of the Coen Brothers' film No Country for Old Men... Told with a force that lifts off the page, and a sentient clarity about ordinary people trapped in crisis, it's a superb debut thriller' Daily Mail 'Fasten your seat belts. Sometimes a debut crime/thriller novel appears which in its sheer assurance and command of the medium suggests that the writer is not learning the ropes but is someone who has been honing their craft for years. Such a book is The Terror Of Living and as the reader feels their pulse quicken almost from the first it is hard not to think that one is in the hands of a seasoned professional... a dynamic and atmospheric piece with refreshingly strong female characters. What's more the writing has some of the stylish economy of the author's role model, Cormac McCarthy... a memorable debut' Daily Express 'Taut, savage and heart-pounding, a thrilling debut... tremendously assured: tightly plotted, vividly written and revealing a sinewy way with words that allows strong character development... Always taut, always intelligent, always bloody, this is an outstanding debut thriller' Sunday Telegraph 'The writing is pleasingly spare, muscular and lean, the characters sharply and sympathetically drawn, and the narrative a compelling blend of breathless plotting and existential angst. Beautifully descriptive of Seattle's rural hinterland, The Terror of Living is a remarkably assured debut' Irish Times '[A] strong debut novel... The "thriller" part is a plot crammed with surprises, kinks, suspense, danger and inventive violence. Though many small mysteries rise and resolve along the way, the propelling question is not whodunit, but whether anyone we've come to care about walks out of the fiery furnace at the end. Waite is a Seattle native and his novel is rich in the physical sense of the region. The sounds and scents and the long-angled light of sea, forests and mountains come to us through the understanding of dueling protagonists, both born to the rain country... The action is dynamic and cleverly choreographed, but the lush intricacy of the novel springs from the inner lives of these two men where, woven through the brutal mayhem, is an odd, indelible core of sweetness' The Oregonian '[A] fine novel...The characters are well-developed, and the complicated plot is well-structured. The action never falters...[a] remarkable debut, full of character and bleakness and written with vim and intelligence [that] will linger in the reader's mind long after the book is laid aside' Library Journal (starred review) 'A drug deal gone wrong, a determined deputy, a running man, a psycho killer. Don't forget compelling dialogue, well developed characters, the Pacific Northwest as backdrop and a relatively happy ending' The Sacramento Bee (Newark Star Ledger) 'First-time author Urban Waite has delivered a stunningly assured and nail-bitingly exciting tale filled with memorable characters who must decide at every turn where their loyalties lie' Irish Independent 'This is an assured debut from Waite who cranks up the suspense like a veteran thriller writer... easily slick enough to hold the attention to the last page' News of the World '[A] confident debut... Waite is an impressive writer with a lean