Kiss of the Wolf

A New York Times Notable Book:A lethal accident turns life into a waking nightmare for a mother and her son in this gripping novel of secrecy and dread

Abandoned by her husband, Joanie Mucherino and her eleven-year-old son, Todd, struggle to cope while dealing with their comically tactless and intrusive Italian family. Further complicating things, Joanie now seems available to Bruno Minea, an old family friend whose two-decade passion for her has been unwavering and faintly frightening. When Joanie and Todd kill an acquaintance in a hit-and-run accident, they soon discover—to their horror—that they’re keeping it a secret. But as the weight of their lies becomes more than they can can bear, their crime connects them to something even more sinister, as the victim had powerful, dangerous friends who will go to great lengths to avenge his death.
 
Part family drama, part thriller, Kiss of the Wolf exemplifies the talents of National Book Award finalist Jim Shepard, author of 2015 favorite The Book of Aron, who crafts hilarious, spot-on dialogue with the same mastery he lends to the ingenious, page-turning plot, in which a loving mother is forced to confront her role as the architect of her son’s anguished guilt.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Kiss of the Wolf is its wide emotional range.  Mr. Shepard manages, even as he works the tension, to be very funny… Christopher Isherwood once wrote that it is far more difficult to write stories of terror – those that excite dread and awe -- than stories of horror, which merely cause alarm, loathing and disgust.  Kiss of the Wolf is from the former mold, and even as it makes us laugh, it succeeds in conveying the terror of a slowing closing net of suspicion and circumstance.”  — The New York Times Book Review

“Shepard evokes the claustrophobia and isolation of [his protagonist’s] silence and, more touchingly, the torment of her son whom she has imprisoned in it.  The terror itself, and its awful constriction, are utterly convincing.”  — Los Angeles Times 

The juxtaposition of the comical, mundane familiarity of the Mucherino family and of the savage character of Bruno, as well as the universality of the moral issues involved, raise this book above the ordinary thriller to the level of real human tragedy. A compelling and disturbing novel.   — Library Journal 

“Shepard’s a remarkable storyteller; we can no more tear our eyes away from the page than Joanie can stop the chain of events she’s set in motion.”   — The Washington Post Book World 

“Shepard takes the suspense right down to the wire: the final paragraph is a knockout.  Grab this one.”   — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) 

“Kiss of the Wolf is taut, tense, chilling… impossible to put down.”   — St. Louis Post-Dispatch 

“The dialogue here is brilliant, funny, pitch-perfect.”   — Voice Literary Supplement 

“The plot builds inexorably to a terrifying climax.”  — The Boston Sunday Globe

“This is a smart, funny, scary, good book.”   — Detroit Free Press