"A wondrous book with two fathers, Kingsley Amis and Dante.
Amazing…smart, witty, poignant and unexpectedly tender.
"An original and bleakly funny portrait of grief.
An unexpectedly moving and dynamic portrait of a difficult, broken man.
An unexpectedly moving and dynamic portrait of a difficult, broken man.
Rick Gekoski's amazing novel Darke, Dr. James Darke chronicles his self-imposed exile. The tale is appropriately dark, but also smart, witty, poignant and unexpectedly tender.
Makes for dark, thrilling reading . . . In James Darke, Gekoski has created a powerful, raging voice
Debut delight . . . Just how this gleefully conjured misanthrope came to wall himself off from the world is the mystery at the heart of a singular first novel that evolves into a moving meditation on loss and redemption
I was beguiled and charmed by the vivid personality being revealed. By that, and by the fact that I couldn't stop reading. Gekoski puts words together with a sure touch and deep craftsmanship
Rick Gekoski's impressive debut novel . . . Darke is both a tender and hard-hitting examination of grief and the slow, singular healing process . . . A brilliantly vivid creation . . . life-affirming and life-shattering
An immensely enjoyable elegy . . . done with precision and patience
The Scotsman - Stuart Kelly
A coming-of-old-age journal which is full of advice on how to live and how to die
Books to Look Out For In 2017 Irish Times
Staggeringly accomplished. Heartbreakingly true. A shockingly monumental first novel
A wondrous book with two fathers, Kingsley Amis and Dante
Surprising . . . with a warmth that is genuinely and unexpectedly moving
Stuffed with more wisdom, bile, wit and tenderness than many writers create in a lifetime. In James Darke we have a hero as troubled and eternal as King Lear . . . And in Rick Gekoski we have a late-flowering genius of a novelist who proves it's never too late to start a glittering career in fiction
A very good storyteller
An original and bleakly funny portrait of grief
Stuffed with more wisdom, bile, wit and tenderness than many writers create in a lifetime. In James Darke we have a hero as troubled and eternal as King Lear . . . And in Rick Gekoski we have a late-flowering genius of a novelist who proves it's never too late to start a glittering career in fiction
A very good storyteller
A tale about a spiky and irresistibly funny retired teacher who incarcerates himself in his own house
top 50 page-turners Sunday Times
