Kirkus weighs in on Roy Freirichs forthcoming psychological thriller, DEPRIVATION and we loved what they had to say!
DEPRIVATION by Roy Freirich | Kirkus Reviews
In this cinematic thriller, crippling insomnia infects the tourists and residents of a small town following the appearance of a mysteriously silent orphan. Like most out-of-balance tourist towns that bustle a few months out of the year, Carratuck Island is heavy with “the uneasy tolerance between sulky islanders trapped in service jobs and finicky, demanding tourists who have planned and saved for a few days of having their way, right now and just so.”
Deprivation
Coming March 2020!
Deprivation is a gripping psychological thriller set on a small New England coastal island stricken by an epidemic of insomnia. After a mysterious, silent child is found abandoned on the beach clutching a handheld video game, residents and tourists alike find themselves utterly unable to sleep. Exhaustion impairs judgment, delusions become hysteria, and mob rule explodes into shocking violence. Told from three perspectives: Chief of Police Mays tries to keep order, teenaged tourist Cort and her friends compete in a dangerous social media contest for the most hours awake, while local physician and former Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Sam Carlson battles his guilt over a student’s suicide and the blurriness of his own insomnia, to try to treat the sleepless—until he and the child must flee the violent mob that blames the child for the epidemic.
Recent Press for DEPRIVATION
- Kirkus Reviews – “In this cinematic thriller, crippling insomnia infects the tourists and residents of a small town following the appearance of a mysteriously silent orphan … A well-paced action thriller with a wide-eyed premise that works hard to shake readers awake.”
Previous Reviews for WINGED CREATURES
- Publishers Weekly – (Review of WINGED CREATURES) – “The survivors of a gun massacre struggle with the aftermath in Freirich’s stark, impressive debut. While emotionally charged, the narrative isn’t weighed down with sentiment as the characters search for, but don’t necessarily find, closure.”
- Booklist – (Review of WINGED CREATURES) – “This well-crafted debut packs a wallop.”