Thomas Mullen

News and Reviews: Firefly Brothers

A stunning work of fiction that is intense, deeply satisfying and always uniquely American. ... A rip-roaring yarn that manages to be both phantasmagorical and historically accurate. In its labyrinthine, luminous narrative, reminiscent of Michael Chabon's best fiction, readers will find powerful parallels to the present-day.

Los Angeles Times

Smartly written. ... A fantastical metaphor for the way popular mythology makes immortals out of even the most apparently deceased of outlaw celebrities ... [A] full-throttle page-turner. ... Like Michael Chabon, whose Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is brought to mind by the The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers' high-wire balance of historical fiction and pulp fantasy, Mullen is equally adept at illuminating and exploiting his readers' familiarity with pop cultural tropes.

Toronto Star

[The] opening scene sets the stage for the riveting cat-and-mouse game that unwinds over the next 400 knuckle-whitening pages. ... What could have been merely a riotous adventure story is transformed into a complex brain-teaser of a literary novel in Mullen's capable hands. Nuanced characterization and provocative themes render this story a multilayered tale that contemplates what it means to have second chances and, if you're lucky enough to get them, what to do with them. ... The story races to a fascinating conclusion. ... We are forced to analyze what the differences are between a criminal and a good man, which, we soon realize, may not be as simple as they seem. ... Mullen's absorbing tale of larger-than-life criminals, car chases and shootouts is not to be missed.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Features all the charm that makes period gangster stories so popular. ... A beautifully painted story about family and the lies people tell themselves about the ones they love. A-

The Onion

Talk about a great getaway, and a great opening: Jason and Whit Fireson (aka the Firefly Brothers) wake up, bullet-riddled, on cold slabs in an Indiana morgue. It seems they're dead -- or were -- but now they're heading out the back door, a step ahead of the cops. ... (Mullen) understands the romance of the outlaw, and he calls upon some clever magic realism to motor this rollicking romp about two public enemies who refuse to die.

USA Today

Tampering with the rules of mortality like this allows Mullen to build new layers of suspense ... You come to care deeply about these characters and their fate. Mullen is a spirited writer, delivering consistently smart dialogue and observations. ... Mullen's eye for social realism and resonant bits of history are his greatest strengths. ... Smart, stylish storytelling. ... Brings to life an earlier era to speak to our own.

The Boston Globe

Magic noirism ... Mullen writes convincingly about the Depression ... Wonderfully illuminates why 1930s America spawned so many dark heroes, and how similar that depression was at times to the recession we're experiencing now.

-The New York Times Book Review

At the start of Mullen's compelling second novel ... bank robbers Jason and Whit Fireson (aka the Firefly Brothers) wake up in an Indiana morgue. ... This is but the first of a number of fantastic episodes in which the criminals cheat death. ... Mullen makes the despair of the Great Depression palpable, as his antiheroes become folk icons to the downtrodden people. ... Readers ... will be engrossed.

--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A mysterious and compelling romp through the 1930s. ... Mullen does a great job of recreating the bleak times of the Great Depression with its bread lines, Hoovervilles, dangers and starkness in beautifully descriptive passages.

Associated Press

Mullen's novel has all the hallmarks of a classic caper. ... Mullen marries the fantastical aspect of the story to an incredibly moving depiction of the suffering of ordinary people in the grip of harsh economical realities--its resonance with contemporary financial woes is unmistakable--and it's this which lends a stark immediacy to the bullets and bank busts.

-Daily Mail (London)

"A rollicking and smart novel--mythic, mysterious and utterly compelling. Thomas Mullen shows us ourselves in his speculative historical fiction, and for readers who love great stories told beautifully, his books can't come fast enough."

-Jess Walter, author of The Financial Lives of the Poets, The Zero, and Citizen Vince

Mullen writes with great brio, and the world he captures can be hilarious, hideous and hearkening--much here feels like the American underbelly in our own economic downturn.

Paste Magazine

Oh, I want to shout about this book from all available rooftops. I want to jam it down the throats of literary snobs too hung up on the usual Lit-boy suspects, afraid of people who can entertain like a mofo, spin out a story at Usain Bolt-like speed with characters who will break your heart as they steal your soul. Yes, Thomas Mullen's new novel -- which I've taken to referring to as a literary gangster zombie novel, even if that hardly tells the whole tale -- is that good, one of my favorite books of 2010 so far, and an edict that will be hard to sway me from as the rest of the year unfolds.

Sarah Weinman, Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind

Shades of Bonnie and Clyde and John Dillinger with a little science fiction thrown in for good measure. Mullen wraps up this evocative Depression-era gangster tale in an unexpectedly surrealistic package, elevating it far above recycled melodrama status. ... Mullen is to be commended for taking literary risks in this genre-bending crime thriller.

-Booklist

There's a touch of Michael Chabon about this magical-realism gangster thriller set in depression-era America. ... Mullen writes with flair and acute historical intelligence.

-Guardian (London)

Fascinating. ... Mullen's writing style is so engaging, one can't put this novel down until its most unexpected end.

Historical Novels Review

A twisting, compelling ... and riveting novel. ... Mullen's tale is white-knuckle exciting at turns, but the author also manages to tuck a peculiar conscience into the fast-paced text. ... The complex layering of the brothers' own connection adds to the multi-faceted experience of this read. ... This addictive, seamless book comes highly recommended.

Mountain Express (Asheville, NC)

A magical and imaginative portrait of Great Depression-era America that captures a nation in all-out economic crisis. ... The modern-day parallel is eerie. ... Mullen gracefully interweaves themes of justice, mortality, and fame among quieter issues such as what makes up a family.

Atlanta Magazine

A gifted writer with an impressive imagination, Thomas Mullen's fast-paced novel centers on two charismatic bank-robbing brothers and the women who love them. Set in a Depression-era America that can evoke our own times, the story has some of the subversiveness of Bonnie and Clyde as Mullen delivers a rousing tale of two outsiders fighting the system.

-The Atlantan

A book with a bang. ... Mesmerizing ... Thanks to Mullen's immersive writing style--the memorable descriptions seem ripped from the headlines of 1930s rags--Firefly leapfrogs its contemporaries. Hands down, this is one heart-pounding work of fiction you shouldn't overlook.

Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star

"If there's any justice in the world, Thomas Mullen's searing, thrilling novel will have as many lives as the Firefly Brothers. It's a thoughtful exploration of celebrity worship and the border country between lore and despair; it's also a crackling good yarn that never loses its getaway-car momentum. This is gangster fiction for grownups--from a writer who brings history vividly and bruisingly to life."

-Louis Bayard, author of The Black Tower and The Pale Blue Eye

A well-timed novel. ... The mystery of the Firefly Brothers' resurrection is the real draw. Mullen teases that intrigue throughout the story, through multiple deaths and resurrections. It's a tough angle, but Mullen makes it believable enough, grounding his story in clear realism to balance the magical events.

Creative Loafing (Atlanta)

"An ambitious and big-hearted book, as lively and full of surprises as the Brothers themselves. The Depression-era world that Mullen conjures in its pages is satisfyingly real--and startlingly reminiscent of the America we inhabit today."

-Jon Clinch, author of Finn

"Fast-talking gents with gats, swell dames falling for the wrong fellas, car chases and hideouts in a depression-era America desperate for a new Robin Hood, this novel has the goods. In The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers, Thomas Mullen puts a magical twist on a classic tale to give us just the right book for hard times. Read this book, see."

-Keith Donohue, author of Angels of Destruction and The Stolen Child

"Thomas Mullen's obvious intelligence and soaring imagination have come together to create this remarkable mythic tale. The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers is a story that reminds us that adventure, heroism, magic, and love can survive--and, in fact, thrive--in times of economic collapse and harrowing social uncertainty."

-Dean Bakopoulos, author of Please Don't Come Back from the Moon