Why did I love this book?
This book encompassed so many different genres and yet still grabbed my attention from page one to the end—it’s a long read, too. It’s a World War II historical epic, an edge-of-your-seat crime novel, and a romance.
Kestrel does a brilliant job evoking Hawaii right before Pearl Harbor and Japan during the war, and really made me care about the main character, Honolulu police Detective Joe McGrady, and his efforts to both survive the war and solve a gruesome set of murders.
4 authors picked Five Decembers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
Winner of the 2022 Edgar Award for Best Novel
"War, imprisonment, torture, romance...The novel has an almost operatic symmetry, and Kestrel turns a beautiful phrase."
-New York Times
Five Decembers is a gripping thriller, a staggering portrait of war, and a heartbreaking love story, as unforgettable as All the Light We Cannot See.
NOMINATED FOR BEST THRILLER IN THE 2022 BARRY AWARDS
FINALIST FOR THE HAMMETT PRIZE 2021
"Read this book for its palpitating story, its perfect emotional and physical detailing and, most of all, for its unforgettable conjuring of a steamy quicksilver world that will be new to almost…