SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD AND SELECTED AS A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY: WIRED GQ BBC CULTURE NEW YORK TIMES, Michiko Kakutani WASHINGTON POST ELECTRIC LITERATURE TIME PUBLISHERS WEEKLY AMAZON HUFFINGTON POST CHICAGO TRIBUNE NEWSWEEK WALL STREET JOURNAL HOUSTON CHRONICLE LIBRARY JOURNAL BOOKPAGE POPSUGAR BUZZFEED SALON, Laura Miller KANSAS CITY STAR L MAGAZINE SEATTLE TIMES BOSTON GLOBE JAMAICA, 1976 Seven gunmen storm Bob Marley's house, machine guns blazing. The reggae superstar survives, but the gunmen are never caught. From the acclaimed author of The Book of Night Women comes a dazzling display of masterful storytelling exploring this near-mythic event. Spanning three decades and crossing continents, A Brief History of Seven Killings chronicles the lives of a host of unforgettable characters - slum kids, one-night stands, drug lords, girlfriends, gunmen, journalists, and even the CIA. Gripping and inventive, ambitious and mesmerising, A Brief History of Seven Killings is one of the most remarkable and extraordinary novels of the twenty-first century.

An Amazon Best Book of the Month, October 2014: This is a book that I did not expect to enjoy. Having finished itâ??and feeling, as I do now, that A Brief History of Seven Killings is one of the best books Iâ??ve read all yearâ??I went back and identified the reasons why I did not expect to like it. Reason #1â?? The story is an oral history told in multiple voices: thatâ??s true, but Jamesâ?? enormous talent makes the multiple voices work. Reading the novel is an immersive experienceâ??the characters are real, they are engaging, and James uses them to look at all sides of the story. Yes, the multiple points-of-view are difficult at first, but each voice quickly distinguishes itself as unique and important; the payoff is a novel of sweeping scope and emotion. Reason #2â??Many of the characters speak in Jamaican patois: like many readers, Iâ??m not a big fan of dialect on the page. Tell me what they say, not necessarily how they say it. But James pulls it off with remarkable ease. I expected the patois to start to grate once I got further into the book. It never did. The language only added to my understanding of the story and its characters. Reason #3â??Violence: this is not an easy book, particularly when it comes to violence. It starts early, and thereâ??s a lot of it (certainly more than seven killings). But itâ??s there for a reason. By showing the violence, the poverty, and the struggle to survive in 70s Jamaica, James illustrates how the ghetto can change a person. Over time, we see how every man and woman is changed. Reason #4 â??Itâ??s about Jamaica: I hesitate to admit that I wasnâ??t initially interested in a book set in Jamaica. Am I just not interested in a world so different from mine? Whatever the underlying reason, I was wrong to think that way. I could take the easy route and say that this novel is about something more than Jamaica, but that seems obvious. All I can say is: these people were real to me. And like all great novels, Jamesâ?? work drew me in, entertained me, and changed me in ways I could not have anticipated. â??Chris Schluep

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