There’s a proverb that says ambition “is like putting a ladder against the sky. It’s a pointless waste of energy."

Told in three parts, this book shows the complete degradation of a person when blind ambition is coupled with psychopathic tendencies. An author must be a keen observer of people and circumstances and be able to take a nugget of an idea, and using their imagination, turn it into a story. But what happens when the only person you are interested in is yourself? When your interest in people is only a means to an end? When you are a parasite, an empty shell of a man, without an original idea in your head? How far will you go when your only goal in life is to become a celebrated novelist?

I won’t give away the plot because it would ruin the delicious surprises in store for the reader. The writing is stellar, and the character development is excellent. Be prepared to be in the hands of a master wordsmith as you read this book. Be patient as you read, and be prepared to be shocked. The ending was simply brilliant.

I was left wondering if John Boyne is poking fun at himself and his fellow authors. Is Maurice a composite of authors he has known? Did he start out poking a little fun at himself and other authors, then took the character of Maurice to the extreme? Know going into it that if you need your fictional characters to be sympathetic or likable, this isn’t the book for you.

This was my first Boyne book but his book, The Heart’s Invisible Furies, is on my bookshelf and just made it to the top of my short list of books to be read.

*review to post on Amazon on publication date

After last year's The Heart's Invisible Furies, I was extremely excited to dive into John Boyne's latest novel. A Ladder to the Sky showcases Boyne's literary range. Maurice Swift comes onto the scene a bit quietly at first, but may be one of the most likable unlikeable characters I've read. The book introduces Maurice as a supporting character to the principle Erich Ackerman, but soon readers realize that, although everyone is the hero of their own story, Ackerman is just a rung in the titular Ladder to the Sky that Swift has constructed. Developing Swift mostly through third parties works particularly well in the portion of the novel told by his wife in the second person. Since Maurice, by this point, has been clearly drawn as a bad egg, it's jarring in the best way to have his wife spit "you" in her telling. There are notes of Patricia Highsmith in this one, primarily because of the similarities between Maurice and Highsmith's Tom Ripley character.

I have always been enamored with John Boyle's novels. He constantly is upping his game as he flirts from the compassionate, sad moving characters in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, to the beloved characters in The Heart's Invisible Furies, to the devious, cunning narcissist in A Ladder to the Sky. This multi talented author managed to once again enthrall me with his ability to entrap the reader into the life of one Maurice Swift, probably one of the vilest creatures you ever would want to meet.

Maurice is a failure. He treads on using people as he drifts through life. His good looks entrap people into his web where he cruelly uses and abuses them. Maurice has a somewhat fluidity when it comes to sex. He can be gay if needed, or straight, or anything really for what Maurice wants most is acclaim as a novelist. He will do anything, and I do mean anything, to achieve that goal. He lies, he cheats, he uses and abuses, he commits the very worst actions possible all to find the highest accolades, the highest plains that he so believes he deserves. His goal is to win the coveted Prize, probably the Mann Booker award, and he is so amoral that he will do everything to win the prize.

Boyne has created a most compulsive read as we travel through the actions, the thoughts, and the cunning of this narcissist. One has to wonder, in the world we live in today, how many Maurice's reside amidst us?.

As with any story and the subjects it touches on, do we see a reflection of the author himself? Is this how Mr Boyle sees himself and his fellow writers, or is this a testament to the place where so many of us have come to be?

This book will have you thinking, have you wondering, have you appalled that a man like Maurice, so contemptible, so repugnant could really be, and yet the frightening element is that there are many Maurices, many loathsome, vicious creatures who would step upon anyone as they themselves strive for that ladder to to sky

4 stars Thanks to NetGalley and Hogarth Press for allowing me to read and review this ARC. Publication November 13, 2018

This may be book that you will love to hate, or hate to love? Boyne did a fabulous job on the three separate chapters. He pulled them all together by high-lighting one person, Maurice Swift. Each chapter told by a different person, each chapter a different period in life, and each chapter more absorbing than the last.

Maurice Swift's deepest desire is to be a novelist. Through each period of his life, he is able to publish a book. It is his method however, that leaves a lot to be desired.

It was unique the way Boyne pulled the life of Maurice Swift together. While reading chapter two I was missing the players in the first chapter and was also taken a bit off guard. I did not feel lost exactly, but it took a minute to understand the change in the protagonists life due to the second chapter being told by a different narrator.

John Boyne has an aptitude to grab you with his writing and project you through the story. Each book I have read by Boyne has been unique and very satisfying. His stories just absorb you and carry you along - on a trip that you do not regret taking.

Maurice Swift, a beautiful man, desired by both sexes, is a writer with terminal writer's block, one who has no imagination as to plot. His desires to be a famous writer and have a child rule his life. He uses his attributes to do this. His character is so dark!
Boyne frames this life story through different narrators offering glimpses of Maurice's life through those that he uses to achieve his goals as well as Maurice's telling. Boyne's talent is that he leaves you wanting more with each narrator's revelations. It's one of those works that you really can't put down.
Boyne's observation about writing and writers is so very interesting. Where does original works live in a world where many ideas have already been written. Is all literature plagiarized?

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC version of this work in return for an honest review.

Oh, John Boyne. I will read anything you write. You are a brilliant man.

This book is unlike any other novels I have read by Boyne. I knew almost nothing about it when I started it. The story is written in parts, each narrated by a different character. The one thing they all have in common is Maurice Swift an aspiring (talentless) writer who will do ANYTHING to achieve literary success and fame. He is a villain you will love to hate. Boyne creates tension but also infuses humor into the story. There are cameos by real literary figures while he pokes fun at the literary world itself. Highly recommend!

Although I usually enjoy Mr. Boyne’s writing, I’m still in awe of his The Absolutist. However, A Ladder in the Sky for me fell flat for me. It started with an info-dump, all about Erich’s past and then made it worse with page after page of internalization, both of which I dislike. Got back story? Integrate it. Don’t pile it at the beginning of the story.
With any new book, I have a little rule: aim for 50. Read the first fifty pages, by then you get a feeling for the characters, the inciting incident and a feel for the over all theme and voice of the story. After reading the first fifty pages, I didn’t care about any of it and was grateful I made it to those fifty pages.
Overall, this doesn’t take away my admiration for Mr. Boyne and his talent, I will continue to seek out his work, however this title was for me.

I would discourage readers from looking at too many reviews before reading "A Ladder to the Sky" so as not to destroy the pleasure of the luscious way John Boyne rolls this novel out. That was my experience--I just saw that he had a new book and knew I wanted to read and review, without quite knowing what it was about.

What a treat to experience this novel fresh with no ideas of what to expect. Boyne creates such a rich reading experience, a page turner from start to finish, adding a new level to his already varied career. As well as loving "The Heart's Invisible Furies," I also was a big fan of his "House of Special Purpose." He has that gift of creating immediately arresting characters of any place or time and pulling the reader into the story to the point that it's hard to pull focus for the regular day.

So good. Don't miss.

” Oh, got no reason, got no shame
Got no family I can't blame
Just don't let me disappear
I'mma tell you everything
”Tell me what you want to hear
Something that will light those ears
Sick of all the insincere
I'm gonna give all my secrets away
This time, don't need another perfect lie
Don't care if critics ever jump in line
I'm gonna give all my secrets away”
-- Secrets, OneRepublic, Songwriters: Ryan Tedder

"'Will you walk into my parlour?' said the Spider to the Fly." - Mary Howitt

“That great poets imitate and improve, whereas small ones steal and spoil.” - W. H. Davenport Adams

Secrets and Lies, Ambition, Lust and Greed

Ambition can be a good quality within limits, but when it becomes the focus of a life, then it tends to consume anything and everything in its path, and when it is done consuming anything, everything and everyone in its path, it will turn on the one that is left – the ambitious one.

In the spring of 1988, Erich Ackermann, now in his mid-sixties, returns to Berlin on invitation, a book tour. It is different now, Berlin, but that doesn’t stop him from seeing the Germany of his youth everywhere he looks, and so the memories seep back in. These are not altogether pleasant memories, and it has been taking a toll on his mood. For now, he is seated in the hotel’s bar, watching the beautiful young man bringing drinks to the tables, and believes the boy is glancing his way now and then, and he wonders if the boy is attracted to him, and contemplates his feelings on that for a while, setting his novel aside.

This beautiful young man is Maurice Swift, a boy-man who has aspirations to be a writer – if only he had a story to tell, a story as shocking and compelling as Erich Ackermann, or even an idea for a story. Will his ambition fuel his success or will his ambition prove to be his destruction?

There are other characters in this novel, Gore Vidal being one, a point in the novel where it moves to Vidal’s home on the Amalfi Coast. While the first part is told through Ackermann, the second part is narrated through Vidal.

As this story goes along, the tension builds, slowly at first, and by the time I reached the halfway point, I thought I knew where this was going, although I was not wrong, I never expected how this delightful, but disturbing, story would end.

Boyne’s story flows effortlessly, the writing is lovely, and while I loved different sections with varying degrees of love, overall this was such an incredibly engaging story of a contemptible character that I will not soon forget.



Pub Date: 13 NOV 2018

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Crown Publishing / Hogarth

Did not enjoy the story line, nor the lack of warmth in the characters. Only read a few chapters. Only my opinion.

I cant decide how I feel about this book. I think I need a book club to talk it thru but theres something genius here with John Boyne, while at the same time disappointing and hollow. It's a novel about ruthless ambition and the story felt in turns, unrealistic and then predictable. But he writes in such a compelling way and managed to surprise me several times. So theres that. The characters felt real enough for me to be shocked at some of their behaviors. I was often hooked and found myself dying to know how it would play out, even when I could see what was coming. Is that genius? Kind of feels like it is.
If nothing else, this book inspires you to want to think it over and talk it out with others. I guess I need me a book club.

A well written book about the nature of ambition and how it can thoroughly warp and degrade a person's morality.

It took me awhile to come around to this book. (Unlike Boyne’s last book which sucked me in on the first chapter)
Maurice is perhaps one of the most despicable main characters I’ve ever read. I found it a bit tough at times to read about all his bad deeds.

But the last 1/3 of the book got really good and I couldn’t wait to see where it went and what would happen to Maurice. A couple parts left me with some unanswered questions, but overall a good read.

This is an interesting story. It follows a young man named Maurice who realizes exactly who he can manipulate to gain literary success for himself. His first encounter with an older author has such an organic feel to the relationship. I can understand why he was so blind sighted by what Maurice does. Maurice, while young and inexperienced matures and moves through the ranks of people continuing his manipulations. After reading this I do feel quite possibly the people he uses may realize something is amiss on a subconscious level, but are so enthralled with the attention from this young man that they choose to possibly ignore any red flags. The authors he chooses to manipulate each have specific vulnerabilities, which appeal to Maurice. The homosexual aspect was one I wasn’t aware of going in, it didn’t bother me but it’s an area I cannot relate to specifically. I did enjoy this book and I feel it is well written.

John Boyne wrote the AMAZING book, The Heart’s Invisible Furies which I loved, and now he’s back with A Ladder to the Sky. This didn’t have the emotional punch I got from The Heart’s Invisible Furies, but it’s really good. We are talking about one book being an A+ and the other being an A.

His writing is perfection, I love how the author describes things and there’s some subtle humor. The story focuses on Maurice Swift, a handsome young man who is determined- at any cost- to be a successful novelist. He will do absolutely anything to succeed. With the literary acclaim he receives with each of his novels comes a back story of those he stole from, stepped on, or killed, to get where he is. Yes killed. You won’t believe the lengths Maurice goes to in order to achieve his success.

If you look hard enough, you can find stories pretty much anywhere. They don’t even have to be your own. Or so would-be writer Maurice Swift decides very early on in his career. A chance encounter in a Berlin hotel with celebrated novelist Erich Ackermann gives him an opportunity to ingratiate himself with someone more powerful than him. For Erich is lonely, and he has a story to tell. Whether or not he should do so is another matter entirely.

Once Maurice has made his name, he sets off in pursuit of other people’s stories. He doesn’t care where he finds them – or to whom they belong – as long as they help him rise to the top. Stories will make him famous but they will also make him beg, borrow and steal. They may even make him do worse.

In Maurice, we see the manipulation and ambition of a true sociopath. Told in three parts by different narrators, this book will grab you and not let you go until the last page. What a tremendously gifted author is John Boyne who can write a book that made cry and turn around and write one that made me angry!

Scoot this up to the tippy top of your TO READ pile! It will be out in February 2019

Wow! Was this ever a surprise. I mean, I anticipated greatness, just not of this sort. I think I am always surprised when I get such adult themes from John Boyne, because I had only ever read one of his books: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. This was no Boy...

However, I loved it. I mean, I devoured it and this is not a short read. I found myself unwilling to put it down because I just had to find out what appalling thing Maurice would do next. I LOVED that the novel was populated with references to and appearances by actual historical and literary figures, too. I envisioned Gore Vidal perfectly on the Amalfi Coast and I giggled at the mention of "Tricky Dick." Great read!

I've only said I wouldn't recommend it at work or buy it because I work in a high school library. Funding is limited, so I have to be super particular in what I purchase. And this would not make the cut for them.

I couldn’t have gone into A Ladder to the Sky with higher expectations; John Boyne set the bar pretty high with his last novel The Heart’s Invisible Furies – my favorite 2017 release and easily one of the best books I’ve ever read – and though it doesn’t quite live up to that standard, A Ladder to the Sky was every bit as enthralling as I hoped it would be. The novel follows Maurice Swift, a young aspiring writer who desires success at all costs, and though he writes decently, he isn’t able to come up with plots of his own. So he sets out to steal other people’s stories, at higher and higher costs.

I guess I’ll start out with my main criticism, then – I expected (perhaps erroneously) that this book was going to be an examination of the heights you can reach if you’re willing to sacrifice your soul, but in reality Maurice doesn’t seem to have much of a soul to begin with. Though he’s a well-constructed character, I did find that he was more of a flat-out villain than the antihero that I had been hoping for. This only became an issue for me in the final section, when some of his actions became almost unrealistically evil, and were never morally grappled with in a thorough enough way to warrant my own engagement or emotional investment in this character’s arc.

And I know that seems like a pretty big gripe, but despite the fact that A Ladder to the Sky is centered around Maurice, the majority of the book isn’t told from his perspective. The novel begins with Erich Ackermann, an old and respected German novelist, who confides a secret in Maurice who then goes on to exploit this to further his own career. Each section unfolds similarly; a character recalls his or her own relationship with Maurice, and each story is in its own way horrifying and heart-wrenching. The section narrated by Erich did end up being my favorite, despite the fact (or perhaps because of the fact?) that Boyne recycles a character arc that anyone who’s read The Absolutist will quickly recognize. I was still highly invested in Erich, and I did quickly become intrigued by Maurice, who, despite the aforementioned complaints, is a thoroughly captivating figure. I guess I just wanted to end up rooting for him, not against him. But I don’t know what that says about me.

Perhaps the most delightful element of this novel is the meta commentary on the publishing industry. There were moments that I found jaw dropping because I couldn’t quite believe that Boyne was bold enough to publish something like this. I mean, of course it’s fiction. But we all know that the kind of schmoozing and chronic ladder climbing you find in this novel are hardly artistic inventions. It was nice, though, to read something this honest (if embellished for fiction, of course). It was also a pretty drastic departure from The Heart’s Invisible Furies, but I honestly think that’s a good thing; one of my favorite things about Boyne is that he’s not the kind of author to write the same book over and over. A Ladder to the Sky was fun and moving and unexpected, and I’d encourage anyone to read it.

I'm not going to lie, I've been a huge John Boyne fan since I was eleven years old and first read The Boy in the Striped Py/ajamas over ten years ago, and have since been following his works religiously. And while most books of his have the protagonist be morally grey and human, this is the second book that has a main character be completely reprehensible and still be engaging and amazing. I loved the variation between first and third person and the different perspectives, even though I generally dislike shifting perspectives in general. Since our main character, Maurice has a rather... Unique way to get to the top of the booklists throughout the story, this shifting perspective makes sense and gives a more comprehensive look at all the people he's used to help get him there. When we finally get to the last third, we finally get his take on everything, and my God, I HATED him. He does psychopaths well! For as much as the Heart's Invisible Furies had a "wandering" plot of the life of a gay man in the form of interconnected vignettes but a linear character, this book absolutely has a linear plot that never really deviates in anything but perspective. I loved both, but the variation is amazing (also, I feel like Erich's plot could easily be its own book or novella but I guess that would be too close to the Absolutist) for one author to do within a year of each other. My only nitpick is Maurice's motive as to why he wanted to be a writer was not really explained other than just "I was born to do it", but I guess not every villain needs to have a clear cut or good motive to be a jackass. Personally, it's not my favorite Boyne book (I really loved The Boy at the Top of the Mountain) but that by no means says that I didn't really like this one. Awesome book, great ending, and a love to hate character that makes you wonder how prevalent the plot actually is in the writing world.

I received an unedited proof of this book by Netgalley and the publisher, and all my opinions are my own.

The book started off interesting, kept my attention, though I was annoyed with Erich, the author & mentor, as he allowed himself to be used by Maurice, who was supposedly learning how to write a book. And did he ever learn.

I thought that was it, but then another book section followed it, when Dash allowed himself to be used by Maurice and thought that watching it unfold once was bad enough, but twice? Then I saw I was only at about 38% of the book and decided to stop rather than experience it over and over like Groundhog Day.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Grabbed my pogo stick at Part 2 and kept on hopping...

This is so weird. I vigorously hated Part 1, yet I just as vigorously gave the book 5 stars. What’s up with THAT? The book starts with an old writer man lusting over a young writer man who will stop at nothing to get ahead. Scathing conversations, immoral acts, a cynical vibe, just nasty people doing and saying nasty things to each other in the publishing world—it was all just too depressing and dark. I realized, hey, I don’t want to be around these people, really, I don’t—get me out of here, now! Life is too short to be reading a book that makes me hate the human race.

So as I started Part 2, I was thinking of ditching the book. I especially didn’t like feeling this way because Boyne had wowed me with The Heart’s Invisible Furies and I was expecting to be wowed again. I trudged on nervously. To my relief, Part 2: A whole different story, whole different tone. Even a different narrator. I got pulled in, and pulled in good. And for the rest of the book I was a goner.

In Part 2, it soon becomes clear that the main character of the book is the douche bag from Part 1—the young guy, Maurice, who will stop at nothing to get to the top. And it’s here that the genre sort of changes. I’m not going to explain because I don’t want to give spoilers, but believe me when I say I just wasn’t expecting THAT to happen. I headed right to the closet to grab my pogo stick, because, well, it was time.

This book is basically a character study of Maurice, who is one sick puppy. He is brilliantly put together. There are a couple of narrators so we get to see him from different perspectives. He is eternally despicable but intriguing as hell. With every new phase of his life, we cringe as we see what he is capable of. Talk about no moral compass. He wants to be a famous writer, period. He destroys lives without a second’s remorse. We desperately want him to get his, but will he? How can they possibly catch him? Because really, he is awfully good at what he does.

The thing about Boyne is that he doesn’t let up. The pace is perfect, the plot intriguing, the characters vivid, the language fantastic. The last quarter of the book is especially brilliant. It was edge-of-my-seat time. I think this would make a fantastic movie.

Oh, and the dialogue—wow! I love talky books, and this book is chatty cathy. Occasionally, the conversations seemed a little over the top and unbelievable, but they were so brilliant I didn’t care. They were like the zingers we spout in our heads after we’ve safely left a bad conversation. I wish I had said THAT, we think. Why did I freeze? So by reading the dialogue here, I was sometimes getting vicarious thrills.

Here’s the weird thing: Just now I went back to Part 1. Lo and behold, nothing seemed offensive, nothing made me feel awful! The text was simply doing its job of setting up a good story; it wasn’t torturing me with its cynical tone. How can that be? I think it’s that Boyne is a magician. The good taste of the rest of the book not just made me forget the bad taste of Part 1, it permanently took it away! Now that’s magical storytelling!

I love books about writers, and I love it when craft and style are touched upon, which they are here. The publishing world in this book is not a world anyone would want to live in, though; it’s painted as one scary place. Here we have crimes, back-biting, meanness, plagiarism, the worst of networking. Makes you shiver. Could anything like this happen in real life? Maurice is extreme, sure, but do some of his tamer actions mimic what happens in real life? God I hope not. Writers who are paranoid about people stealing their work should not read this!

There’s one small editing nit that bugged me. Within a few pages, a character mentioned the age of a kid twice to the same person. Super minor, but the editor gets a D for missing this one.

This book reminds me a bit of Dear Mr. M, by Herman Koch, a favorite author of mine. Both books have a complex writer as the main character, and both have cynical and sinister tones; even the writing styles seem a little similar. And strangely, this book has the same exact theme as a great little short story I read earlier this year—My Purple-Scented Novel, by Ian McEwan (another favorite author).

Get your hands on this gem. Expect an unforgettable, despicable character and tons of smart dialogue. Boyne writes with such ease and art, I found it impossible not to be totally immersed in this story. I can honestly say that not one sentence bored me and not one conversation was uninteresting. So hell yes, I grabbed my pogo stick at Part 2 and kept right on going. What a trip it was!

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy.