Lazarus Man

'An atmospheric novel with the trappings of crime fiction' Spectator. Harlem, 2008. In an instant, a five-story tenement collapses into a fuming hill of rubble, crushing the cars parked in front and coating the street with a thick layer of ash. As the city's rescue services and media outlets respond, the surrounding neighbourhood descends into chaos. At day's end, six bodies are recovered, and many more tenants are still missing. Lives are upended and answers are sought, including by a veteran city detective, a funeral home owner, a young transplant to the city, and one miraculous survivor. Powerful and gripping, LAZARUS MAN depicts intertwining portraits of a group of compelling characters whose lives are permanently impacted by the disaster, from one of the greatest chroniclers of life in urban America. 'You'll find more warmth, cynicism and love of life - every kind of life - here than in many novels twice the size' The Times.