Publishers Weekly
11/01/2021
The backdrop to this solid standalone from Edgar winner Parker, set in 1968 Laguna Beach, Calif., is the burgeoning counterculture—hippies, drugs, be-ins, and protests—but 16-year-old Matt Anthony is mostly worried about his fractured family. His dad has fled. His mom’s addicted to hash and opium. His brother’s fighting in Vietnam. And his sister, 18-year-old Jasmine, has gone missing, last seen at a stairway to the beach. The police, who don’t take Jasmine’s disappearance seriously and are busy trying to bust drug dealers, think she’s just another rebellious runaway. So Matt works tirelessly to find his sister, but his plan—to canvass every house in Laguna Beach—feels more desperate than useful. He’s also reluctantly roped in to help the cops investigate local drug trafficking. Parker offers a telling perspective on the people who used youth culture to traffic drugs (and much worse), but this works best as a thoughtful coming-of-age novel and a portrait of a Southern California town in the throes of substantial societal change. Crime fiction fans may just find enough to like. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
"This twisty tale of teen’s desperate plan to save his sister and right his off-keel family is a compelling coming-of-age thriller that will entrance you with its ‘60s vibe and backdrop, and captivate you with its engaging storytelling and a believable cast of characters –including one heroic kid you can’t help but to root for." —USA Today
"A unique thriller and also a coming-of-age story: the not-so-sentimental education of an impressionable teen. Mr. Parker has given us a well-designed flashback to a tie-dyed time that in some ways seems like the day before yesterday and in others feels like a century ago." —Wall Street Journal
“As powerful as a riptide in summer...A Thousand Steps reopens for our reconsideration the consequences of clashes between authority and freedom, order and chaos, that persist to this day — and the innocents that will always get caught in the tumult." —Los Angeles Times Book Review
“Parker already has two or three titles on my all-time best-ever list. . . and now comes A Thousand Steps, which might be his crowning achievement. It's a great story and a nuanced look at the nation in 1968, and above all it proves no one inhabits character as completely and intensely—Matt Anthony is a changing boy in a changing time, and you won't ever forget him.” —Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author of the Jack Reacher series
"Parker is one of the greats, and has been for years. ...Pick up A THOUSAND STEPS, and journey to a California that only Parker could deliver with such vibrancy and verve. In a story that will squeeze hearts and steal sleep, Parker uses his prodigious talents to bury his readers deep in that special time, to make them travelers in the past, white-knuckled and breathless for fear of missing a detail, a moment, the ride of a lifetime." —John Hart, New York Times bestselling author
"A rousing standalone novel that is as much a coming-of-age tale as it is a mystery." —South Florida Sun-Sentinel
“T. Jefferson Parker is the poet of American crime fiction. . . There’s a damned good reason he has won three Edgar Awards.” —C.J. Box, New York Times bestselling author of Blue Heaven
“A brave and daring writer.” —Lisa See, New York Times bestselling author of Shanghai Girls
“Parker ranks as one of the top contemporary suspense writers.” —Publishers Weekly
“As much sensitive coming-of-age novel as it is edgy thriller...Parker juggles his disparate elements superbly.” —Booklist
“If there’s a better mystery writer around . . . well, there isn’t.” —San Diego Union Tribune
APRIL 2022 - AudioFile
Narrator Matt Godfrey portrays a pitch-perfect 16-year-old Matt Anthony, who is at the center of this coming-of-age mystery. The story is set in 1968 in Laguna Beach, California, a center of hippie culture. Matt is on a mission to find his older sister, Jazz, who has mysteriously disappeared. The author faithfully re-creates the Age of Aquarius, bringing in real places and people, like Timothy Leary, whom Godfrey gives credible voices. Matt is an amazingly responsible and level-headed young man who is growing up with a drug-dependent single mother. The tension surrounding his search for his sister loses its intensity as he’s challenged to find his next meal and survive. Nevertheless, this audiobook is an engaging listen driven by the appeal of its young protagonist. E.Q. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
