Reviews of Fever
Excerpts from reviews will be posted as they become available, and links to the full review text will also be provided when possible. You can also read what other writers have said about Fever.
"Here's a fresh voice that delivers plenty of bang for the buck. Sean Rowe's debut doesn't take any time serving up the action... [T]his tantalizing brew of thrills and chills finds its real strength in the author's ability to keep the surprises coming at breakneck pace while never losing control of his taut tale... [A] hallucinatory, high-temperature pot-boiler that will certainly make you sweat."
— Barnes & Noble "Best of 2005" Staff Favorites
"Rowe has left journalism and is now working on another novel. Whether his talent is God-given or a byproduct of brain meets train, it shines brightly as his taut little tale comes rolling down the tracks."
"Fever deserves all the raves. [T]remendously exciting...full of believably flawed people and the kind of attention to detail that hooks you from the start...Rowe combines some convincing research with sharp, often-hilarious prose."
— Chicago Tribune
"Rowe's real skill is with plot. The plan to hijack the cruise ship is clever and plausible (keep this book out of the hands of al-Qaeda), and the aftermath of the attack corkscrews delightfully. But this noirish novel really distinguishes itself when it ventures into creepy territory such as cannibalism, crucifixion and genuinely shocking sex."
— Bloomberg.com
"[W]itty, fast moving, occasionally goofy and intermittently thrilling..."
"Fever is a fast-paced romp through Miami at its seediest. It's a heist story of the Nth degree—a plan so outlandish you'll think there's no way it can be pulled off. Of course it can. [I]f you enjoy reading Hiaasen, James Patterson, Elmore Leonard and the like, you'll definitely want to grab a copy of Fever."
— The Salisbury Post (NC)
"...a most remarkable novel... it started perfectly, and kept getting better and better.... Rowe demonstrates that he is a craftsman of the highest order. Fever just might be one of the best thriller reads of the year, a year that has been full of great ones already. It's difficult to put down, and impossible to forget."
— Joe Hartlaub, for BookReporter.com
"Fever takes off with its opening bang and never slows down.... Sean Rowe provides an adrenaline burner that starts at hyperspeed and accelerates from there."
— Harriet Klausner, for TheBestReviews.com
"[A] potential mystery sleeper [that] could keep readers turning the pages well into the night."
— Publishers Weekly
"Dufris, an award-winning narrator with more than 200 audiobooks to his credit, transforms much of this unabridged production of Rowe's striking debut fiction into riveting sequences that come close to simulating a full-cast recording. [R]elentlessly paced... Dufris has been careful to create distinctive voices for nearly all concerned ... one shocking surprise after another." [This review is of the Fever audio edition.]
— Publishers Weekly
"[A]n engaging heist novel in the tradition of Elmore Leonard and the film "Ocean's 11." It's a fast, fun and funny romp through South Florida that makes for an ideal late-summer book."
"[A] crisp, fast-paced thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat, grimacing at the depravity of human beings, but begging for more....Rowe's masterful language skills [give] us just enough before he pulls back and allows us a bit of rest before hitting us once again with the raw ugliness of the underworld....Rowe will be a force to reckon with in the world of the crime thriller and we can't wait to read the next installment."
— Andrea Sisco for Armchair Interviews
"A genuinely terrific hard-boiled thriller."
— Bookaholic (PDF)
"Energetic ... fast-paced and well-plotted."
"A stylish debut ... Sean Rowe deserves warm praise for Fever. Fast-paced and action-laced, Fever is one helluva thriller—and I am sure of one thing, we haven't seen the last of Matt Shannon."
"...a uniquely talented writer with one very sharp, irony-laced eye for Florida-baked pulp. ...[M]ark your calendar to buy the book."
— New Times Broward-Palm Beach
"An explosive debut! ...[T]his book was hard to put down. Like bungee jumping with a long cord over a shallow pool of hungry sharks, the reader is pushed over and over again to a breath-hitching crisis, and then jerked back just in time only to do it all over again. Read Fever if you have strong nerves. Turn off the cell phone, pull the blinds and block out some time. Once you begin, you won't want to stop."
Advance Praise for Fever
"I read an awful lot of books, hoping for, waiting for, one like Fever to come along. Sean Rowe does just about everything right in this novel."
— James Patterson, author of Lifeguard
"Fever is a rock-steady, hard-edged thriller, elevated by humor and genuine humanity. A notable debut from Sean Rowe."
— George Pelecanos, author of Drama City
"A compelling thriller from a great new talent. With Fever, Sean Rowe gives us lucky readers a story that's both a sweaty-palm nautical thriller and a tale echoing the Florida crime writing tradition at its best, all told in his own hard-hitting, stylish voice. Read the first page with caution; you better not have any plans for the rest of the day."
— Jeffery Deaver, author of The Twelfth Card and Garden of Beasts
"Sean Rowe's Fever is as fresh and blistering and relentless a thriller as any tropical noir I've read. Rowe knows this territory well—especially the creatures that slither about it when the sun goes down. Jump on board, hang on tight."
— Les Standiford, author of Havana Run
"Fever is an outright adrenaline bomb. Sean Rowe writes with the wit and fluency of Elmore Leonard and the bristling energy of James Ellroy. You don't read this novel—you get addicted to it."
— Steve Almond, author of Candyfreak and The Evil B.B. Chow
"Sean Rowe writes like a freight train moves: with weight, speed and frightening power. The thing I like best is that he writes about people with blood in their veins—and in their eyes—like a man who realizes that living is personal. Life may get a little dull sometimes, but novels don't have to be. Sean knows that."
— Rick Bragg, author of All Over But The Shoutin' and Ava's Man
"Part heist novel, part Christian allegory, Fever chronicles one man's fated march through fire and blood, toward a primal reconnection with his family and a final, shattering act of redemption. Sean Rowe has run the ball from coast to coast and slam-dunked the American thriller. Buy this book."
— Jim DeFede, Miami Herald columnist and author of The Day the World Came to Town