Industry Reviews
"Morris continues to draw a subtle, near flawless portrait of the unique ways that small-town life can both nurture and suffocate its residents." "Booklist (Starred Review)"" "Keith Morris is one of my favorite fiction writers and "The Dart League King" is his best book yet. In his Idaho you can see the rest of America, in his Idahoans the rest of us Americans: funny, grave, profane, tender, violent, full of longing for something and someone we don't really deserve and will do almost anything to get anyway. I am in awe of this novel, this novelist." "- Brock Clarke, author of "An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England""" "What a testament it is to a splendid novelist's powers to pitch-perfectly create a small-town dart league and in doing so not only illuminate the zeitgeist but some universal truths to boot. "The Dart League King" is a nine-darter of a novel and Keith Lee Morris is a writer whose books I have promised myself never to skip." "Robert Olen Butler, author of "A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain""" Sign me up as a member of the Keith Lee Morris fan club. His characters are as real, fallible, and surprising as anyone I've ever met, and his novel has all the textures of real life: precarious, tender, and utterly engrossing." "Kelly Link, author of "Magic for Beginners""" ""The Dart League King" is no lullaby. This chilling novel pulled me right in and through. I see it as a mystery-told in reverse-a who-will-do-it as opposed to a whodunit, and Morris is perfectly suited to this task." "Julianna Baggott, author of "Harriet Wolf's Seventh Book of Wonders""" ""Alice in Wonderland" meets "The Shining" when four travelers are stranded in Good Night, Idaho, during a freak blizzard . . . ["Travelers Rest"] proves itself weighty, suspenseful, and even wistful . . . The lasting impact [of Good Night] on the characters is rather poignant." ""Kirkus""" "Morris is heir to the Richard Ford of "Rock Springs"; he has that rare gift of writing truthfully about people we know and care for." ""The Believer""" "In "Travelers Rest," Keith Lee Morris ("Call It What You Want") strikes the perfect balance between the real and the fantastical, resulting in a novel whose mystery is as disquieting as it is mind-bending....Morris excellently builds the slow-burning mystery of the hotel's past in a way that will leave readers lulled into the strangeness of "Travelers Rest "just as they are discomfited by the eeriness of it all. This quietly unsettling novel combines past and present, dreams and reality, into one strange hotel mystery." "Shelf Awareness"" "Beautifully written. Morris has an adroit hand for characterization and atmosphere; the people feel real....and the haunting isolation of Good Night looms and chills throughout the story." N.K. Jemisin, "New York Times Book Review"" -A compelling read.---The Kansas City Star -Morris is heir to the Richard Ford of Rock Springs; he has that rare gift of writing truthfully about people we know and care for.---The Believer Praise for Keith Lee Morris -Sign me up as a member of the Keith Lee Morris fan club. His characters are as real, fallible, and surprising as anyone I've ever met, and his novel has all the textures of real life: precarious, tender, and utterly engrossing.---Kelly Link, author of Magic for Beginners -Alice in Wonderland meets The Shining when four travelers are stranded in Good Night, Idaho, during a freak blizzard . . . [Travelers Rest] proves itself weighty, suspenseful, and even wistful . . . The lasting impact [of Good Night] on the characters is rather poignant.---Kirkus -In Travelers Rest, Keith Lee Morris (Call It What You Want) strikes the perfect balance between the real and the fantastical, resulting in a novel whose mystery is as disquieting as it is mind-bending....Morris excellently builds the slow-burning mystery of the hotel's past in a way that will leave readers lulled into the strangeness of Travelers Rest just as they are discomfited by the eeriness of it all. This quietly unsettling novel combines past and present, dreams and reality, into one strange hotel mystery.---Shelf Awareness -Expertly refurbishing an old structure, this haunted-hotel novel generates some genuine chills . . . Morris handles the spooky materials deftly, but his writing is what makes the story really scary quiet and languorous, sweeping steadily and inexorably along like a curtain of drifting snow identified too late as an avalanche.---Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) -Keith Lee Morris knows what fiction is made for: in Travelers Rest he creates an intriguing world, poses big questions, and gives us sentences that by themselves are worth the read. What happens, he asks, when the person who goes missing is yourself? And you're lost not only in space, but also in time. And the people you love most are counting on you to save them because they are missing, too. Morris invites us to lose ourselves in his stunning new novel and find out.---Charlotte Rogan, author of the New York Times bestseller The Lifeboat -Echoing the fantastic work of Shirley Jackson and Stephen King, Travelers Rest is both fiercely gripping and deeply unsettling, a perfect mixture of horror and fairy tale held together by Keith Lee Morris's unique ability to look beyond the imposing hotel and take us inside the hearts and minds of this trapped family, a feat that makes this story all the more frightening and moving. This is a novel that pulls you in immediately and refuses to let you go.---Kevin Wilson, author of the New York Times bestseller The Family Fang -It won't take long-a page, maybe two-before you feel wondrously disquieted by Keith Lee Morris's Travelers Rest. The novel traps its characters in the town of Good Night, Idaho, and the reader in its shaken snow globe of a world. The language dazzles and the circumstances chill and put this story in the good company of Stephen King's The Shining, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, and David Lynch's Twin Peaks. This is a breakout book that will earn Morris the wide readership he richly deserves.---Benjamin Percy, author of The Dead Lands and Red Moon -Time and space are as fluid as water in Keith Lee Morris's labyrinthine third novel...Proustian in theme but not in form, Travelers Rest is the definition of dreamlike prose. Morris's writing is clean and cold as snow. The pages drift by just as effortlessly, lulling you into a quiet cocoon that you realize, too late, is actually something much more sinister.---Adam Morgan, BookPage -It says much of Morris's skill that he's able to keep us bewitched and beguiled in this topsy-turvy world with its endless corridors, twisting stairs, and Escher-like surroundings. The novel culminates in an almost operatic grand finale where past and present meet in a satisfying conclusion.- --John Clarke, The Independent -Morris's third novel is just as rewarding as his short stories, brimming as it is with ghosts, dream mines, and snowy mazes...In his artful hands, the fallible and relatable characters make for good company in the punchy cabin-fever atmosphere.---Courtney Ferguson, Portland Mercury -Travelers Rest does not go in for Gothic horror shocks, presenting instead a subtle, meticulous examination of strained relationships, the effects of isolation on the mind, and the persistent hold memory has over us....The novel resembles the kind of nightmare you can't seem to wake from....It exerts a powerful hold.---James Lovegrove, Financial Times -Thoughtful, engaging, and clearly the work of a writer who knows what he's doing....Morris's prose is very good--polished, accessible, and at times quirkily humorous....There's much to admire and enjoy in Travelers Rest. The writing is persuasive, the characters are rich, and there are moments of great emotional resonance. Should you choose to stay a while in Good Night, Idaho, then--unlike the Addisons--you won't regret it.---Michael Marshall Smith, The Guardian -Beautifully written. Morris has an adroit hand for characterization and atmosphere; the people feel real....and the haunting isolation of Good Night looms and chills throughout the story.---N.K. Jemisin, New York Times Book Review "A compelling read." The Kansas City Star" "Morris is heir to the Richard Ford of Rock Springs; he has that rare gift of writing truthfully about people we know and care for." The Believer" Praise for Keith Lee Morris "Sign me up as a member of the Keith Lee Morris fan club. His characters are as real, fallible, and surprising as anyone I've ever met, and his novel has all the textures of real life: precarious, tender, and utterly engrossing." Kelly Link, author of Magic for Beginners" "Alice in Wonderland meets The Shining when four travelers are stranded in Good Night, Idaho, during a freak blizzard . . . [Travelers Rest] proves itself weighty, suspenseful, and even wistful . . . The lasting impact [of Good Night] on the characters is rather poignant." Kirkus" "In Travelers Rest, Keith Lee Morris (Call It What You Want) strikes the perfect balance between the real and the fantastical, resulting in a novel whose mystery is as disquieting as it is mind-bending....Morris excellently builds the slow-burning mystery of the hotel's past in a way that will leave readers lulled into the strangeness of Travelers Rest just as they are discomfited by the eeriness of it all. This quietly unsettling novel combines past and present, dreams and reality, into one strange hotel mystery." Shelf Awareness" "Expertly refurbishing an old structure, this haunted-hotel novel generates some genuine chills . . . Morris handles the spooky materials deftly, but his writing is what makes the story really scary quiet and languorous, sweeping steadily and inexorably along like a curtain of drifting snow identified too late as an avalanche." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)" "Keith Lee Morris knows what fiction is made for: in Travelers Rest he creates an intriguing world, poses big questions, and gives us sentences that by themselves are worth the read. What happens, he asks, when the person who goes missing is yourself? And you're lost not only in space, but also in time. And the people you love most are counting on you to save them because they are missing, too. Morris invites us to lose ourselves in his stunning new novel and find out." Charlotte Rogan, author of the New York Times bestseller The Lifeboat" "Echoing the fantastic work of Shirley Jackson and Stephen King, Travelers Rest is both fiercely gripping and deeply unsettling, a perfect mixture of horror and fairy tale held together by Keith Lee Morris's unique ability to look beyond the imposing hotel and take us inside the hearts and minds of this trapped family, a feat that makes this story all the more frightening and moving. This is a novel that pulls you in immediately and refuses to let you go." Kevin Wilson, author of the New York Times bestseller The Family Fang" "It won't take long-a page, maybe two-before you feel wondrously disquieted by Keith Lee Morris's Travelers Rest. The novel traps its characters in the town of Good Night, Idaho, and the reader in its shaken snow globe of a world. The language dazzles and the circumstances chill and put this story in the good company of Stephen King's The Shining, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, and David Lynch's Twin Peaks. This is a breakout book that will earn Morris the wide readership he richly deserves." Benjamin Percy, author of The Dead Lands and Red Moon" "Time and space are as fluid as water in Keith Lee Morris's labyrinthine third novel...Proustian in theme but not in form, Travelers Rest is the definition of dreamlike prose. Morris's writing is clean and cold as snow. The pages drift by just as effortlessly, lulling you into a quiet cocoon that you realize, too late, is actually something much more sinister." Adam Morgan, BookPage" "It says much of Morris's skill that he's able to keep us bewitched and beguiled in this topsy-turvy world with its endless corridors, twisting stairs, and Escher-like surroundings. The novel culminates in an almost operatic grand finale where past and present meet in a satisfying conclusion." John Clarke, The Independent" "Morris's third novel is just as rewarding as his short stories, brimming as it is with ghosts, dream mines, and snowy mazes...In his artful hands, the fallible and relatable characters make for good company in the punchy cabin-fever atmosphere." Courtney Ferguson, Portland Mercury" "Travelers Rest does not go in for Gothic horror shocks, presenting instead a subtle, meticulous examination of strained relationships, the effects of isolation on the mind, and the persistent hold memory has over us....The novel resembles the kind of nightmare you can't seem to wake from....It exerts a powerful hold." James Lovegrove, Financial Times" "Thoughtful, engaging, and clearly the work of a writer who knows what he's doing....Morris's prose is very good--polished, accessible, and at times quirkily humorous....There's much to admire and enjoy in Travelers Rest. The writing is persuasive, the characters are rich, and there are moments of great emotional resonance. Should you choose to stay a while in Good Night, Idaho, then--unlike the Addisons--you won't regret it." Michael Marshall Smith, The Guardian" "Beautifully written. Morris has an adroit hand for characterization and atmosphere; the people feel real....and the haunting isolation of Good Night looms and chills throughout the story." N.K. Jemisin, New York Times Book Review" "A compelling read." "The Kansas City Star"" Praise for Keith Lee Morris "Sign me up as a member of the Keith Lee Morris fan club. His characters are as real, fallible, and surprising as anyone I've ever met, and his novel has all the textures of real life: precarious, tender, and utterly engrossing." "Kelly Link, author of "Magic for Beginners""" "It won't take long-a page, maybe two-before you feel wondrously disquieted by Keith Lee Morris's" Travelers Rest." The novel traps its characters in the town of Good Night, Idaho, and the reader in its shaken snow globe of a world. The language dazzles and the circumstances chill and put this story in the good company of Stephen King's "The Shining," Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House," and David Lynch's "Twin Peaks." This is a breakout book that will earn Morris the wide readership he richly deserves." Benjamin Percy, "author of "The Dead Lands "and "Red Moon""" Praise for Travelers Rest "Beautifully written. Morris has an adroit hand for characterization and atmosphere; the people feel real...and the haunting isolation of Good Night looms and chills throughout the story." N.K. Jemisin, "New York Times Book Review"" Praise for "Travelers Rest" "It won't take long-a page, maybe two-before you feel wondrously disquieted by Keith Lee Morris's" Travelers Rest." The novel traps its characters in the town of Good Night, Idaho, and the reader in its shaken snow globe of a world. The language dazzles and the circumstances chill and put this story in the good company of Stephen King's "The Shining," Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House," and David Lynch's "Twin Peaks." This is a breakout book that will earn Morris the wide readership he richly deserves." "Benjamin Percy, author of "The Dead Lands "and "Red Moon""" Praise for "Travelers Rest" "Echoing the fantastic work of Shirley Jackson and Stephen King, "Travelers Rest" is both fiercely gripping and deeply unsettling, a perfect mixture of horror and fairy tale held together by Keith Lee Morris's unique ability to look beyond the imposing hotel and take us inside the hearts and minds of this trapped family, a feat that makes this story all the more frightening and moving. This is a novel that pulls you in immediately and refuses to let you go." "Kevin Wilson, author of the "New York Times" bestseller "The Family Fang""" Praise for The Dart League King "[An] absorbing and intelligent novel... Morris cranks up the tension so that by the time the dart match arrives, the book is impossible to put down. Morris explores how even the most banal choices we hake--to get in the car or not?--can have a life-altering impact." "Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)""
