A bloody - and bloody brilliant - story of passion and revenge. Terrific * * The Times * * Bitter and brilliant . . . it could sit comfortably on any bookshelf beside Cormac McCarthy or Charles Frazier . . . the plot moves with precision, beautifully wrought. The author's acute sense of place is evident on every page * * Guardian * * A stunningly effective novel that is stark, fierce, dramatic and gripping from its unforgettable opening paragraph -- Janet Maslin * * New York Times, Top Ten Books of 2008 * * It's too hypnotic to break away from. Innocent people are in peril, and calamity seems as unstoppable . . . The final chapter is as flawless and captivating as anything I've read this year * * Washington Post * * Rash's evocative rendering of the blighted landscape and the tough characters who inhabit it recalls both John Steinbeck and Cormac McCarthy, while the malignant character of Serena, who projects a "stark unflinching certainty" about her actions, propels his finely paced story * * New Yorker * * If Serena becomes famous as the basis for a coming Jennifer Lawrence-Bradley Cooper movie, never forget that it began as a fierce, breathtaking book, one of the greatest American novels in recent memory * * New York Times * * In an age when literary fiction is so intent on subtlety that it often winds up virtually inert, a novel with this much uncomplicated gusto and narrative drive is a rare thing; in the case of Serena, it's also a welcome one * * Salon * * A searing tragedy of Shakespearean proportions - or, in simpler terms, a damn good book that will keep you awake far too late and, well after you've finished it, haunt your dreams -- Julia Glass, author of THREE JUNES A gorgeous, brutal novel -- Richard Price, author of LUSH LIFE