The Reservoir Tapes - Softcover

Praise for The Reservoir Tapes
An American Booksellers Association Indie Next Pick
Long-listed for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
A Booklist Editors' Choice

“Terse, gripping stories . . . These stories, which can be read independently of the novel, relate brisk, character-driven episodes . . . McGregor’s penchant for experimentation is on display once again.” ―The New Yorker

"An electrifying new novel . . . It's scary stuff, this book, pounding as it does again and again with the insistent menace of people who go missing. But as the chapters accumulate, you begin to build a mental and emotional map of what’s left behind: a wounded town, fully specific enough to be engrossing but also slyly universal enough to make one consider their own common ground . . . McGregor’s too inventive a writer not to dazzle and surprise, to create moments that confound and stir. In pages that recall some of our most excitingly dense and playful postmodern stylists, such as Padgett Powell and Robert Coover, it becomes clear, rather quickly, how dedicated to, among other pursuits, McGregor is to crafting first and final sentences." ―Los Angeles Times

"A companion piece to his Man Booker–longlisted Reservoir 13, McGregor’s latest works perfectly well as a standalone, offering an alternately sweet and suspenseful depiction of a community as it reacts, person by person, to the disappearance of a teenage girl." ―Entertainment Weekly

"McGregor has an uncanny ear, and such an elegant way with words." ―Patrick deWitt, Vanity Fair

"McGregor may offer the closest contemporary approximation we have to [Joyce's early stories]. Both writers have a gift for the feel of adolescence . . . And both can summon a language that pierces our deepest habituations. Even leaving aside this lofty comparison, though, it’s clear that McGregor, working from subtle materials, has become a major writer. The Reservoir Tapes is further confirmation of it. Now we wait." ―Chicago Tribune

"A companion piece to the 2017 novel Reservoir 13, The Reservoir Tapes returns with a deeper dive into the individual stories and memories of Becky's left-behind village." ―Bustle

"Fresh and absorbing . . . McGregor has a naturalist’s eye, with details worthy of a poet in the vein of Ted Hughes. And he keeps you invested in the mystery while resisting the urge to continually drop clues as to Becky’s fate . . . There is nothing commonplace about McGregor’s work. But it is from that innovation that so much of the thrill arises." ―amNewYork

"Widely accessible as a stand-alone work, The Reservoir Tapes turns the concept of a thriller on its head, building suspense through a close examination of the everyday trials of witnesses, neighbors, and those simply passing by. The result is sharp, brooding work about the evils present in men and the cruel desires that lurk just below the surface. A frightening work, indeed." ―The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA)

"Jon McGregor’s recent novel Reservoir 13 earned him praise from critics and writers on both sides of the Atlantic. His latest novel, The Reservoir Tapes, revisits that earlier novel’s setting, albeit with a decidedly different stylistic approach." ―Vol. 1 Brooklyn

"The vignettes are succinct and impressively subtle, wavering between a mix of reflective and tangential thoughts, offering brief but revealing portraits of the narrators as they see themselves . . . By taking the story of Becky Shaw’s disappearance from its original long form to a more truncated prologue, McGregor has enriched his story that much more, making the mystery at its center that much more compelling." ―ZYZZYVA

"This will be one of the most highly anticipated novels around come August . . . It’s hard to prepare readers for the power of this unfolding McGregor series: how incisive the prose, how deep the insights run. Suffice it to say, McGregor is one of the most profound authors at work today, and the Reservoir novels are a must-read for anyone who believes in the significance and potential of crime fiction." ―CrimeReads

"A brilliant book about the social realities of a small English village. . . . A thriller of another kind, one where the writing is deft and the mood uneasy, this book illuminates the complexities of the human condition in a truly imaginative way." ―LitHub

“The outsider observing the village’s goings-on is a powerful viewpoint, and the return of the central mystery of Becky isn’t old; in fact, it becomes startlingly fresh and newly disturbing in this book.” ―Read It Forward

“[A] remarkable collection of linked short stories... McGregor demonstrates an extraordinary ability to create complex, multidimensional characters in only a few spare sentences. He is also a master of mood, investing his stories with an air of the ominous while proving also to be a superb stylist... Irresistibly readable, the book is, in sum, a memorable celebration of literary fiction.”―Booklist (starred review)

"On its own, this book is a noteworthy event. When put in conversation with Reservoir 13, it is nothing short of a remarkable experiment in storytelling. McGregor is a must-read writer." ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"McGregor is a maestro at demonstrating the reverberations of catastrophe across space and time, building strong backstory and consequences in only a few lines. As a standalone, the novel is quietly consuming, but as a companion to Reservoir 13, it serves as an exquisite elaboration on the mysterious characters that are the heart of both novels."―Publishers Weekly

"In these spare, elliptical tales, McGregor revisits the unnamed village in England's Peak District that was home to his critically acclaimed novel Reservoir 13, a work New Yorker critic James Wood justifiably called one of 'visionary power.' And though its setting and mood evoke McGregor's earlier book, this collection is a fresh reminder of his versatility and talent. . . . Daring in format, its accumulated glimpses flesh out some of the details of Becky's last hours with her family only hinted at in Reservoir 13." ―Shelf Awareness