Review
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NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A Best Book of the Year:
Time * The Washington Post * Today show * Real Simple * Kirkus *
Library Journal * Chicago Public Library * BookPage * CrimeReads
A Washington Post Bestseller * A Goodreads Choice Award Finalist
* A Good Morning America Hot Summer Read * An Entertainment
Weekly April Jewel * A Southern Living Best Spring Book * An
Elle Reading List Selection * A People Best New Book * An
IndieNext Pick * A LibraryReads Selection * A Book of the Month
Selection
"[A] thought-provoking journey of ideas [and] a fascinating study
of the malleability of truth in the courtroom . . . Miracle Creek
is a brave novel that challenges assumptions of reality."
―Krys Lee, The New York Times Book Review
"One of the best mysteries I've read in a really, really long
time."
―Téa Obreht (a Must-Read Pick for the Today show)
"A deeply moving story about parents and the lengths they will go
for their children . . . Readers will be riveted by the book’s
genre-bending structure and superb pace. Miracle Creek is a
stunning debut about parents, children and the unwavering hope of
a better life, even when all hope seems lost."
―Jung Yun, The Washington Post
"I literally couldn't put it down. It's that wonderful, brilliant
story of book that you want to shove at other people as soon as
you've finished."
―Erin Morgenstern, author of The Starless Sea
"A really, really gripping-page turner. . . . Something goes
wrong, a mother and child die, there's a big courtroom showdown,
and it turns out everyone is keeping secrets. . . . Recommended
for those who love a good thriller."
―Jennifer Weiner for Good Morning America
"[A] mesmerizing debut . . . [Angie Kim] shows an enormous a
of empathy for her characters, infusing them with such intense
humanity that I sat weeping for them in an airplane middle seat,
between two strangers, for several minutes after I finished the
book. With clear, assured prose and penetrating emotional
intelligence, she takes us deep into their inner lives . . . The
plotting is deliberate and detailed and marvelously done."
―Steph Cha, Los Angeles Times
"Gripping . . . Although the plot of Miracle Creek is propelled
by a murder trial . . . the book shines when the characters
involved open up about what it’s like to make intense sacrifices
for the people they love. From the immigrants who ran the
facility to the single mother of the child who was killed, Kim
makes a case for compassion that surpasses the suspense of her
page-turner."
―Annabel Gutterman, Time Magazine
"Miracle Creek is a quick-paced murder mystery that plumbs the
power and perils of community."
―Trish Bendix, O: The Oprah Magazine
"Combining the tense atmosphere of a courtroom drama with a
moving study of the sacrifices that parents are prepared to make
for their children, Angie Kim’s debut is pacey and
thought-provoking."
―Eithne Farry, Sunday Express S Magazine
"Take the taut pace of a procedural drama and infuse it
with the deftly wrought relationships of a Celeste Ng novel, and
you'll get Miracle Creek . . . A page-turner backed up by big
ideas about family and what we'd do for them."
―Elena Nicolau, Refinery29
"Clear your s, put your phones on airplane mode, and get
ready to hear the sounds of your heartstrings being plucked! This
stunning debut is a family drama, courtroom thriller, and a
mystery, all of which add up to one of the most incredible novels
of 2019 . . . My two-word review: Jaw. Dropping. I was absolutely
floored by this book! Reading it felt like opening a present I
had been hiding in my heart."
―Liberty Hardy, Book of the Month Club
"[Miracle Creek] is a gripping page-turner, but what I loved most
was Kim’s thoughtful, honest exploration of parents of children
with special needs, and immigrants. Perfectly paced, filled with
wisdom and compassion, this is a book you don’t want to miss."
―Jean Kwok, Bustle
"I was immediately drawn in by Kim’s vivid, horrifying opening
chapter, building a tension that doesn’t let up until the book’s
final pages . . . [Miracle Creek] powerfully, and at times
painfully, interrogates the inner lives of women who are the
primary caregivers for children with chronic, debilitating
medical conditions . . . Even as the courtroom plot unspools, Kim
also encourages readers to look at the uncomfortable truths that
might remain unspoken or barely whispered, as she lays bare her
characters’ deepest vulnerabilities and darkest moments."
―Norah Piehl, BookReporter
“A rigorous character study, touching on themes of immigration
and motherhood.”
―Entertainment Weekly
"Although the case seems open-and-shut, nothing is quite so
simple in Kim's compulsively readable debut."
―The Washington Post
"Kim has an expert knack for feeding readers clues like
breadcrumbs . . . Perhaps one of the most interesting facets of
Miracle Creek is its exploration into the fragility of
traditional gender roles . . . Set amidst the U.S. justice
system, Kim explores the deepest, darkest and most untamed facets
of the human psyche through her riveting tale of murder. Miracle
Creek is a thrilling, page-turning story of how even the most
well-intentioned white lie can lead to an explosive outcome."
―Mae Hamilton, Character Media
"Exceptional . . . one of the best books I’ve read so far this
year, if not one of the best books I’ve read in the last few
years . . . One of Stephen King’s greatest gifts as a writer, I
have always felt, is how he is completely unafraid to take risks
with who his characters are . . . Kim does the same, making her
characters so real in their ugliness and their guilt, unafraid to
show that parenting is an ugly job that sometimes has wonderful
benefits . . . On every level, the characters and their
relationships–whether its husband and wife, mother and child,
her and child–areas layered and complex and complicated as the
truth of the night of the tragedy . . . This book is amazing. I
cannot recommend it enough."
―Queer and Loathing in America
"Miracle Creek is a courtroom drama with impeccable pacing, an
original plot, and stellar writing. It’s also a remarkably
empathetic book, exploring the ripple effects of causality and
the urgent need to do right by each other in big and small ways .
. . A great read that deserves broad success."
―Sara Hinckley, IndieBound.org
“With so many complications and loose ends, one of the miracles
of the novel is that the author ties it all together and arrives
at a deeply satisfying―though not easy or sentimental―ending.
Intricate plotting and courtroom theatrics, combined with moving
in into parenting special needs children and the psychology
of immigrants, make this book both a learning experience and a
page-turner. Should be huge.”
―Kirkus (starred review)
“This stunning debut by Angie Kim is both an utterly engrossing,
nail-biter of a courtroom drama and a sensitive, incisive look
into the experiences of immigrant families in America.”
―Nylon
"Kim effectively uses her background as a trial lawyer,
skillfully crafting her narrative by interweaving the stories of
her characters, each of whom speak for themselves as the story
progresses toward a surprise ending. With touches of mystery,
legal thriller, and character-driven storytelling, where nothing
is ever quite as it seems, Kim's promising debut will certainly
have readers looking forward to her next offering."
―Library Journal (starred review)
“[A] masterpiece of grief, hope, and recrimination . . . A
complex novel of parenting, prejudice, and putting blame where
blame’s due, this one is not to be missed.”
―Crime Reads
"[Miracle Creek] has everything you're looking for in a book."
―Reading Women Podcast
"This courtroom thriller is easily one of my most favorite reads
of the year-to-date and the industry buzz is massive. Pre-order
this one, so that you can read it before all your friends start
talking about it."
―Kristopher Zgorski, Bolo Books
“A stand-out, twisty debut . . . Kim, a former lawyer, clearly
knows her stuff . . . a masterfully plotted novel about the joys
and pains of motherhood, the trick mirror nature of truth, and
the unforgiving nature of justice.”
―Publishers Weekly
“Powerful courtroom scenes invite comparisons to Scott Turow, but
Kim’s nuanced exploration of guilt, resentment, maternal love,
and multifaceted justice may have stronger appeal for readers.”
―Booklist
“I know this story but have never seen it in a novel―the
struggles of the Korean immigrant entrepreneur in America, with a
technology that seems like magic, who can go from hero to villain
in an instant, now at the center of what is possibly a murder―a
bright seam of crisis, mystery, and love emerges in these pages.
Kim has written a bold debut novel about science and immigration
and the hopes and fears each engenders―unforgettable and true.”
―Alexander Chee, author of The Queen of the Night
“Miracle Creek is a marvel, a taut courtroom thriller that
ultimately tells the most human story imaginable, a story of good
intentions and reckless passions. Compelling, generous, at once
empathetic and unsparing. I am wrecked, I am heartened and
hopeful, which means, in short, that Miracle Creek is pretty much
the perfect novel for these chaotic times in which we live.”
―Laura Lippman, author of Sunburn
“Miracle Creek grabbed me hard right from the start. This is a
terrific courtroom thriller, a sly whodunit that’s beautifully
written and also full of heart.”
―Scott Turow, author of Testimony
“Miracle Creek is an engrossing puzzle-box of a book: a twisty
courtroom drama that also manages to be emotionally astute,
culturally perceptive, and deeply empathetic. Angie Kim tackles
hot-button subjects with a delicate touch, proving herself a
master of both portraiture and storytelling. I loved this novel.”
―Janelle Brown, author of the New York Times bestseller Watch Me
Disappear
"I love a good courtroom drama, so I love Miracle Creek. But this
is more than a good thriller; it is the story of parents with
children needing for autism or cerebral palsy; the
story of a family of Korean immigrants; the story of myriad
marriages and the 'right' way to raise children in a very
challenging environment. I loved this book and can't wait to
introduce it to book clubs . . . if only so I can have someone to
talk about it with."
―Sarah Bagby, Watermark Books & Cafe
A Most Anticipated Book of 2019 at: BuzzFeed, Refinery29,
CrimeReads, Electric Literature, Nylon, The Millions, BookRiot
and more. Featured in Refinery29, Harper's BAZAAR, The Saturday
Evening Post, The Telegraph, and the Reading Women Podcast
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About the Author
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Angie Kim moved as a preteen from Seoul, South
Korea, to the suburbs of Baltimore. She attended Stanford
University and Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the
Harvard Law Review, then practiced as a trial lawyer at Williams
& Connolly. Her stories have won the Glamour Essay Contest and
the Wabash Prize in Fiction, and appeared in numerous
publications including The New York Times, Salon, Slate, The
Southern Review, Sycamore Review, The Asian American Literary
Review, and PANK. Kim lives in northern Virginia with her husband
and three sons. Miracle Creek is her debut novel.
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