Synopses & Reviews
A tragic act of violence echoes through a small Minnesota town
Set on the Minnesota prairie in the late 1980s during a drought season that’s pushing family farms to the brink, Little Wolves features the intertwining stories of a father searching for answers after his son commits a heinous murder, and a pastor’s wife (and washed-out scholar of early Anglo-Saxon literature) who has returned to the town for mysterious reasons of her own. A penetrating look at small-town America from the award-winning author of The Night Birds, Little Wolves weaves together elements of folklore and Norse mythology while being driven by a powerful murder mystery; a page-turning literary triumph.
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“At its heart, Little Wolves is a powerful mystery....Maltman combines mythology and small-town claustrophobia to show how the roots of the violence [are] planted.” Christian Science Monitor
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"A work of nuance, craft, and tightly plotted narrative....Little Wolves is a portrait of two individuals seeking solace through religion and the law, and finding every opportunity thwarted by that most central tenet of Americana: nostalgia." Rain Taxi
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“Took my breath away...as rich in myth and metaphors as Cormac McCarthy's The Road.” Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
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"A powerful mix of tragedy, myth, psychological thriller, and discovery told in a style so engaging that the reader might easily get caught up in the beauty of the words if the story itself were not so stunning." Library Journal, Starred Review
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“Powerful...skillfully evoked.” Publishers Weekly
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“Maltman makes his leading characters so sensitive that you may shudder at the same revelations that so appall them.” Kirkus
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"Layered with literary and mythic allusions....A satisfying and unforgettable read." School Library Journal
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"In gorgeous prose, Maltman conjures both the irrational suspicion and the heartwarming connections forged in a small town during times of trauma." Booklist
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“Saturated with violence, Anglo-Saxon mythology and parochial pettiness, Maltman's novel is an unsettling work of first-rate fiction.” Shelf-Awareness
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“Part allegory, part mystery and pure poetry, layered with Norse mythology and Anglo Saxon narratives, Maltman's second novel is dark, redemptive and very beautiful.” Minneapolis Star-Tribune
About the Author
Thomas Maltman's essays, poetry, and fiction have been published in many literary journals. He has an MFA from Minnesota State University, Mankato and he lives in the Twin Cities. His first novel, The Night Birds, won several national awards, including an Alex Award, a Spur Award, and the Friends of American Writers Literary Award. In 2009 the American Library Association chose The Night Birds as an "Outstanding Book for the College Bound."