Reviews
THE BLACK MONASTERY:
“Works like a charm….the vocation of place is wonderful, the themes – guilt, greed and the islander’s suspicion and dislike of the tourists on whom they depend for their living – expertly handled and the Indiana Jonesy ending spectacular.” Laura Wilson, The Guardian
“intriguing and highly descriptive….complex and interesting storyline…and range of enigmatic characters.” – Yorkshire Post
“For an atmospheric and accomplished thriller, look no further than this dark tale of religion, murder and corruption….Sherez’s evocation of the jaded holiday isle is superb…..Forget Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and Mama Mia – this destination is more similar to the sinister setting of John Fowles’ The Magus….dynamite fiction…..the book is thought provoking in a way that makes its gory plot all the more satisfying.” The Independent
“A complex tale of greed, guilt and lust….menacing atmosphere and moments of true horror” – Sunday Telegraph
“A dark…disquieting tale.” – Literary Review
“Stav Sherez brilliantly captures the claustrophobic atmosphere of a small island at the height of an intensely hot summer….the menace is palpable, the characterisation is fully rounded….fast paced and deliciously creepy, The Black Monastery is very much a book to devour in one sitting.” – Daily Express
“It takes nerve to add a cult, castration and mass suicide to an already heady mix yet Sherez pulls it off with aplomb. The result is an atmospheric tale of pure nastiness.” - Mark Sanderson – Evening Standard
“A dark and compelling crime thriller which slowly unwinds the many strands of a murky blood-streaked mystery while also managing to graph the desecration of a former paradise….a deadly game of cat and mouse….a thumping good read.” – Irish Examiner
“If you need an antidote to Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, look no further.” The Sunday Times
“inventive, suspenseful and very exciting….one of the year’s best thrillers.” Mike Ripley, Shots
“A gripping page turner.” New Straits Times
“Sherez’s evocation of place is most impressive….The Black Monastery is clever crime fiction…both thrilling and confronting.” Canberra Times
“Sherez paints magnificent images….the evocation of place is sublime in this distinctive and capable thriller….the superb prose in this novel makes it a very enjoyable reading experience.” Independent Weekly (Australia)
“Delicious metaphor-laden language and genuinely page turning conclusion….” reactionstoreading.com
“Atmospheric, faultlessly written, perfectly paced and thought provoking – this is a story of regrets, secrets and revenge. The Black Monastery is a thriller of the highest quality. Sherez’s prose is at turns terse and lyrical and every word is exactly in the right place.” crimesquad.com
“Taut and tightly written with revelations tumbling one after the other.” bookgeeks.com
“The book garners a deep emotional response….a novel to be enjoyed but not too quickly; thus taking in every piece of prose, because every little thing matters here.” it’sacrime.com
“A dark murder story….intriguing and well written.” Tangled web
“Compelling, gripping and a little horrifying, Sherez has written a very different take on paradise.” birdogblogspot.com
THE DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND:
‘Demonstrating rare intelligence, brilliantly structured, beautifully
written, this is the finest first novel I have read in some time. It is
altogether extraordinary, and introduces a major talent.’
-James Sallis
“Sherez is hunting big game. He takes the most frightening atrocities
of the twentieth century and explores them in a way you’ll never forget.
The most exciting, compelling and clever thriller I’ve ever read.”
- Matt Thorne
‘A brilliant and disturbing book. As an investigation of human perversity,
it is fascinating; as a thriller, it stands comparison with the very best.
Mesmerising.’
- Toby Litt
The Devil’s Playground leads us willingly into the darkest parts of
Amsterdam, where the past invades the present and not even your own identity
is certain. A taut thriller which dissects the legacy of a frightful history
with intelligence and care
- Louise Welch
The Devil’s Playground is a spider web of love and terror, madness and grace, that brilliantly weaves some of the darkest moments of human history with the horrors that lurk just below the surface of modern life. A page-turner of mysterious murders, lost manuscripts, sexual obsession and deadly secrets.”
- Rennie Sparks (The Handsome Family)
“This book probes so relentlessly, fearlessly and deeply into the unspeakable darkness that it manages to work its way through to some impossible and redemptive light. I’ve read it twice and I’m sure I’ll read it again.”
- Steve Wynn
“The story is totally and utterly gripping. It deals with the most horrendous and dismaying material of all. A young promoter of a music magazine, actually, which is close to home here at Classic FM, he is in despair, his magazine’s just collapsed and suddenly he spots an old man outside his window who seems to be hovering for two or three days, not begging, not doing anything much. He invites him in and a whole series of events is unleashed. The series of events actually leads us to Amsterdam. It’s actually the best depiction of Amsterdam I’ve read since the novels of the late Nicholas Freeling. It leads us to the Holocaust museum and, in fact, it leads us into the Nazis’ worse kind of corruption and snuff movies and so on and it comes to a terrific ending. I mean, for a first novel this is extraordinarily ambitious and, I think, extraordinarily accomplished. All you want when you close the last page is to wait for the next novel by Stav Sherez. Now that’s as good as a first novel gets.”
- Classic FM
“Stav Sherez is a gifted writer … deserves to be the thriller of the summer”
- The Economist
“Impressive … a meditation on representations of violence decanted into a crime thriller”
- Time Out
“Ambitious, audacious, powerful”
The Observer
“Remarkably ambitious”
- The Sunday Times
“A dark crime thriller than begins with an act of kindness and ends with every moral certainty having been burned away….The Devil’s Playground is appropriately named. A highly charged, plausible and disturbing piece of work”
- The Big Issue
“A page-turner of a thriller”
- Metro
“A razor sharp thriller. Like Robert Harris, Sherez has an immaculate sense of pace, expertly propelling the story along. Gripping to the end”
- Jack
“A hypnotic page turner”
- City Life
“Juggernaut pace and moral-twisting narrative”
- The List
“Thought provoking and incredibly atmospheric debut”
– Publishing News