REVIEWS

“Wonderful tale of America's Wild West." New York Post

“An adventure so hair-raising it makes Deadwood look positively staid in comparison. There hasn't been a fictional character this appealing and outrageous in a long long time." Entertainment Weekly

“She is the rare real thing. From the ring of her button-boot heels on the sidewalk to the fact she has more words for 'leaving' than any other activity. She is not one to linger. But her story, and her near-perfect way of telling it, will last long after she's shoved off." San Francisco Chronicle

“Chris Hannan's rowdy riot of a debut novel...is a blast. The voice of its impetuous 19 year old narrator is so antic and persuasive you have to wonder if Hannan has gender-changing as well as time-traveling powers." Seattle Times

“Missy is narrated by one of the more luminous characters in recent fiction. For all her compulsive appetites and crippling lack of self-knowledge, Dol’s is an exuberant voice. She has a whipsmart eye for other people’s folly, and a vocabulary fizzing with her era’s slang.” Guardian

“Perhaps it's unsurprising that an award-winning playwright should have excelled in the creation of a character's voice or that so much of the success of this debut novel should depend on that voice. But from the gorgeously sassy opening, it is surprising how winning, and how powerful, the voice of Dol McQueen is... Chris Hannan manages to combine the sheer exuberance of Dol's narrative voice with some of the worst aspects of human behaviour - violence, sexual exploitation, ruinous neglect of children - without either diminishing the despair one feels at the hardest of lives lived, or compromising the effects of such a life.” Independent

“With its rollicking, perfectly crafted plot and assured sense of place, Missy is more than just another western adventure yarn. The dialogue has all the snap of a flash-girl’s suspender, while the prose sparkles like the diamond-ringed buttons on Pontius the pimp’s vest. It is, though, the deeply poignant, heart-piercing story of a feckless, uncaring mother and a vulnerable daughter’s search for her mother and for love.” Scotsman

“The best female character I have read in years.” Sunday Mail

“A heroine who has such a disarming way with words it's easy to listen for hours.” Arizona Republic

“From the instant she appears on stage she grabs the reader's attention and never lets go. This is a delightful story." Denver Post

“It's a lot of riotous fun that's also about addiction, codependency and, ultimately, Dol's confrontation with her own extraordinary selfishness. No matter how much mud she gets on her face, she's always willing to look in the mirror. Even at her worst, that's what makes her such an irresistible bedtime companion.” www.npr.org National Public Radio

“A fabulous book: brilliantly voiced and wonderfully evocative.” Christopher Wilson, author The Ballad of Lee Cotton

“Tapping straight into a girl's worst fear of becoming her mother, Chris Hannan's debut novel is a clever, full-throttled, nail-biting tale of addiction, deceit, promiscuity, desperation and self-delusion.” The Crack Magazine

“That Missy is an action-packed page-turner is achievement enough. That it also has the tang of frontier authenticity is little short of remarkable.” Scotland on Sunday

“About as good as story-telling gets.” Sunday Herald

“Hannan evokes the rough-and-ready period in blistering detail, and creates a vivid gallery of misfits and eccentrics (the incorrigible Pontius is a particularly engaging slimeball). But his novel lives in the irresistible person and voice of Dol… Don’t miss it.” Kirkus Reviews

“This wildly entertaining novel takes place in the down-and-dirty Wild West and features one of the most bombastic, fantastic heroines in recent memory. A lovable larger-than-life star.” Publishers Weekly

“Sometimes we can predict, or at least foresee, the terrible consequences of her actions, but more often we are just swept along by her impulsive compulsion. It's a rollercoaster of drugs, sex and murder and a quite remarkable evocation of the US in 1862.” The Herald

“The whip-crack wit and blistering idiom of Dol McQueen lends this rollicking Wild West adventure an infectious rhythm and vivid sense of time, place and character. It’s funny, moving and thrilling throughout – a triumph of the imagination; intoxicating. Trust me – one drop and you’ll be hooked.” Press and Journal

“Hannan mixes Mark Twain’s yarn capacity with the primal qualities of Cormac McCarthy and Flannery O’Connor.” The Big Issue, Wales

"Alluring and addictive." City AM

“Dropped in the center of the action is Dol McQueen. Hannan writes this character with impeccable style, crafting a vivid portrait whose emotional notes ring true. One cannot help but root for Dol as she withdraws onto the wagon trail, her pursuers ever near. This is a fantastic debut novel.” Library Journal Review

“A rip-roaring look at an altogether different side of the old Wild West.” Booklist

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