The Quick: A Novel Hardback - 2014

Media reviews

Named One of the Top 10 Literary Fiction Books of the Season by Publishers Weekly

“Seductive . . . extraordinarily polished. . . . The book’s pleasures include frequent viewpoint shifts that require readers to figure out how each character fits into the story, new riffs on vampire rituals and language, plus several love affairs, most of which are doomed. And there’s plenty of action. . . . [Owen] packs many surprises into her tale, making it a book for readers to lose themselves in.”
– Publishers Weekly (starred review)
 
“A gothic blockbuster.”
– Independent (UK)
 
“A novel to devour, re-read and recommend.”
– The Bookseller
 
“Essential reading.”
– You magazine, Mail on Sunday
 
“The book’s energy, its wide reach and rich detail make it a confident example of the ‘unputdownable’ novel.”
—The Economist

“An elegantly written gothic epic . . . Owen’s soaring imagination and her light-handed take on magic save this story from being either obvious or boring. . . . The journey from one genre to another is satisfying and surprisingly fresh.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“An intriguing blend of historical, gothic, and supernatural fiction . . . [The Quick features] wonderful atmospheric writing.”
—Library Journal

"A suspenseful, gloriously atmospheric first novel, and a feast of gothic storytelling that is impossible to resist." 
– Kate Atkinson, bestselling author of Life After Life and Case Histories
 
"A sly and glittering addition to the literature of the macabre . . . As soon as you have breathed with relief, much worse horrors begin. It's a skilled, assured performance, and it's hard to believe it is a first novel."
– Hilary Mantel, Man Booker Prize-winning author of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies

"Ambitious, elegant, atmospheric and often deeply poignant . . . a seamless blend of Victorian London and rich imagination. A book to savor."
– Tana French, bestselling author of In the Woods and Broken Harbor