How To Find Your Way In The Dark

Written by Derek B. Miller

Narrated by Michael Crouch

FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD

WINNER OF THE JEWISH FICTION AWARD FROM THE ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH LIBRARIES

""[Miller’s] character portraits are indelible, often heartbreaking. At times this novel moved me to tears, the highest possible compliment.”

—New York Times Book Review

With the wit and scope of Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Derek B. Miller tackles his most ambitious epic yet. At its heart is the return of Sheldon Horowitz, the protagonist from Miller’s award-winning first novel, Norwegian by Night, who was lauded by Pulitzer Prize–winning author Richard Russo as “one of the most memorable characters . . . that I’ve encountered in years.”

MEET SHELDON IN THE MORNING OF HIS LIFE

Twelve-year old Sheldon Horowitz is still recovering from the tragic loss of his mother only a year ago when a suspicious traffic accident steals the life of his father near their home in rural Massachusetts. It is 1938, and Sheldon, who was in the truck, emerges from the crash an orphan hell-bent on revenge. He takes that fire with him to Hartford, where he embarks on a new life under the roof of his buttoned-up Uncle Nate. Sheldon, his teenage cousins Abe and Mirabelle, and his best friend, Lenny, will contend with tradition and orthodoxy, appeasement and patriotism, mafia hitmen and angry accordion players, all while World War II takes center stage alongside a hurricane in New England and comedians in the Catskills. With his eye always on vengeance for his father’s murder, Sheldon stakes out his place in a world he now understands is comprised largely of crimes: right and wrong, big and small.

“For me—as I’m certain it will be for every reader of the wonderful Norwegian By Night—Derek B. Miller’s new novel is a genuine literary event (Sheldon Horowitz is back!). Miller has long deserved to be a household name. How to Find Your Way in the Dark should finally make him one.""

—Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls and Chances Are...

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Jul 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9780358450498

Derek B. Miller

Derek B. Miller is an American novelist, who worked in international affairs before turning to writing full-time. He is the author of five previous novels, all highly acclaimed: Norwegian by Night, The Girl in Green, American by Day, Radio Life and Quiet Time (an Audible Original). His work has been shortlisted for many awards, with Norwegian by Night winning the CWA John Creasey Dagger Award for best first crime novel, an eDunnit Award and the Goldsboro Last Laugh Award. How to Find Your Way in the Dark was a Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award and a New York Times best mystery of 2021.  Derek B. Miller is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College (BA), Georgetown (MA) and he earned his Ph.D. summa cum laude in international relations from The Graduate Institute in Geneva with post-graduate work at Oxford. He is currently connected to numerous peace and security research and policy centers in North America, Europe and Africa, and he worked with the United Nations for over a decade. He has lived abroad for over twenty-five years in Israel, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Switzerland, Norway and Spain.

Reviews for How To Find Your Way In The Dark

[ridgewaygirl · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a madcap and heart-warming tale about a boy growing up in the years before the US entered WWII. Left orphaned after his father's murder, Sheldon swears he will kill the man who ran them off the road. This novel is similar in tone to Fredrick Backman's novels and is a prequel to the author's earlier novel, Norwegian by Night. While the story was more than a little far-fetched, the love that the author has for his characters is undeniable and the book managed to balance some heavy subject matter with humor and whimsy. I'm not really the reader of this kind of book, it was the choice of my book club, but I did enjoy reading it.

[judithrs · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

How to Find Your Way in the Dark: 1 (A Sheldon Horowitz novel). Derek B. Miller. 2021. Jim would have loved this book! Twelve year old Sheldon is riding with his father when a car plows into them and kills his father. Sheldon sees the driver and is hell bent on finding the murderer. Sheldon moves in with his uncle and cousins, finishes high school and works at a hotel in the Catskills, meets up with Mafia thugs, deals with discrimination and learns along the way that the world is full of good and bad people. Miller has the amazing ability to make you cry one minute and laugh the next. He provides a vivid description of what it is like to be a Jewish teenager in pre WWII America.

[dokfintong · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Curiously intense.I have not read "Norwegian by Night" and maybe that is why I found Sheldon to be an unlikely obsessive focused on revenge. My response to the book is a bit ambiguous. I think you will like it, but don't try it unless you like very intense writing that requires you to take as given the reality painted of Massachusetts and Connecticut. Maybe you should try "Norwegian by Night" first.I received a digital review copy of "How to Find Your Way in the Dark: Sheldon Horowitz 2" by Derek B. Miller from Mariner through NetGalley.com.