Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published May 2021
288 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
An American teen living abroad discovers the truth about himself and his family in this thrilling novel from "one of the best dialogue hounds in the business" (New York Times Book Review).
In the wake of a baffling tragedy, 13-year-old Graham moves with his family to Beirut, Lebanon, a city on the edge of the sea and cataclysmic violence. Inquisitive and restless by nature, Graham suspects his State Department father is a CIA operative, and that their family's fragile domesticity is merely a front for American efforts along the nearby Israeli border. Over the course of one year, 1972, Graham's life will utterly change. Two men are murdered, his parent's marriage disintegrates, and Graham, along with his two ex-pat friends, run afoul of forces they cannot understand.
The City on the Edge is elegiac, atmospheric, and utterly authentic. It's the story of innocents caught within the American net of espionage, of the Lebanese transformed by such interference, of the children who ran dangerously beside the churning wheel of history. One part Stephen King's "The Body" and another John le Carre's A Perfect Spy, it's a transformative crime story told with heart and genuine experience.
"[O]utstanding...Swinson offers the reader a deeply felt coming-of-age novel set against a background of powerful authenticity. This is not to be missed." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"[T]he novel occasionally gets caught between a coming-of-age story and a mystery. But this stand-alone follow-up to Swinson's Frank Marr mysteries...unfolds with cool understatement and entertaining period details (prepare for an onslaught of Jethro Tull) and builds to a satisfying climax. An absorbing take on Middle East conflict as seen through the eyes of an American boy." - Kirkus Reviews
"Because Swinson's ("Frank Marr" series) father served in the U.S. Foreign Service and his family lived all over the world, this book has a particular realism and an almost autobiographical perspective. Readers who enjoy international intrigue, spies, and mystery, or coming-of-age stories, will enjoy this book." - Library Journal
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
David Swinson grew up in Washington, DC, Beirut, Mexico City and Stockholm, the son of a foreign service officer. He is a retired police detective from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC, having been assigned to Major Crimes. Swinson is the author of The Second Girl, Crime Song and Trigger. He lives with his wife and daughter in Northern Virginia.
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