Michael Northrop

* THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, June 14, 2009
“Northrop’s first novel is creepy, yet it has what can pass for a happy — or at least satisfying — ending.”

* BOOKLIST, starred review
“This is a rare sort of book that may work just as well for reluctant readers as it will avid ones . . . A riveting thriller? Yep. A nuanced examination of morality? Yep again. What’s amazing is that they never get in each other’s way.”

* PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, starred review
“Northrop’s debut is one dark ride . . . The brutal narration, friendships put through the wringer and the sense of dread that permeates the novel will keep readers hooked through the violent climax and its aftermath.”

* JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD selection for May 2009
“Gentlemen is a suspenseful and thoughtful mystery that explores the darkest reaches of three students’ imaginations.”—JLG Monthly

* Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) pick, February 2009
“Michael Northrop’s debut novel is suspenseful, darkly humorous, and strikingly real.”—ALAN Online

* GUYS LIT WIRE, August 21, 2009
“Dark, thought-provoking and genuinely creepy, this story will grab you in a second, and leave you thinking when your reading marathon is done.”

* THE BOOKSHELVES OF DOOM, October 20, 2009
“A Hulk-sized double thumbs-up.”

* THE COMPULSIVE READER, January 4, 2010
“Gentlemen is a unique and chilling novel that examines not only morals and crimes, but the darkness that may exist in any one person, making for a unique and thoughtful book that reluctant readers will be able to enjoy.”

Gentlemen is my first novel. You can find it at your local bookstore, on Amazon, on BarnesandNoble.com, and random places like flipkart in India, where it costs 919 rupees and is paired with Slumdog Millionaire. I hope you will pick up a copy, and if you do, I very much hope you enjoy it.

Micheal, Tommy, Mixer, and Bones aren’t just from the wrong side of the tracks—they’re from the wrong side of everything. Except for Mr. Haberman, their remedial English teacher, no one at their high school takes them seriously. Haberman calls them “gentlemen,” but everyone else ignores them—or, in Bones’s case, is dead afraid of them. When one of their close-knit group goes missing, the clues all seem to point in one direction: to Mr. Haberman.

Gritty, fast-paced, and brutally real, this debut takes an unflinching look at what binds friends together—and what can tear them apart.