Dangerland! - by Erin Singer (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"I couldn't put this book down. It's so funny and vivid -- and completely engaging." --Rainbow Rowell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Cherry Baby

A screwball romantic comedy and big-hearted family drama set in Las Vegas, about a will-they, won't-they couple who have spent years trying (and failing) to figure out whether to roll the dice on love -- it's "When Harry Met Sally" meets "The Hangover".

At the annual Fourth of July barbecue in Alluvian--a once-luxurious gated community in the dusty suburbs of Las Vegas--Kurt Richter has decided he's in love with Eugenie Zepp.

Well, he's been in love with her since he was eight years old. But now he's in his fifties, divorced twice, with four kids. The entire neighborhood is suing him, and he's been estranged from Eugenie for a decade. It's the perfect time to declare his love.

Eugenie and Kurt were two kids raised in Vegas, always loyal to Vegas, with all its glamor and seediness, its slot machines in pharmacies and desert heat and off-the-strip tiki bars. As they built families and careers and homes, as they lived real life in a place filled with transient visitors and quicksilver hopes and dreams, they've made a wreckage of their own lives and the lives of their families while trying to figure out who and what they are to each other.

This summer, Kurt's adult daughter Brianna comes back to town, determined to uncover the secrets in her family and seek revenge on those who she believes have wronged her. Eugenie's adult son Austin is back, too, trying to become a professional poker player and heal himself after a bad break-up. Bodybuilder Chad collides with the Richter family's long-suffering, beloved nanny Nellie who has decided she's finally quitting.

Will this be the right time for Eugenie and Kurt, after everything they've been through? In this deliciously, darkly funny, romantic comedy, everyone is looking for love in all the wrong places and gambling on the biggest games in life--but in Dangerland, there's always one more chance to win.

Review Quotes

"I wish that Dangerland! was a prestige television drama, so that I could spend season after season with its tangle of riveting characters. I'd never get tired of the dialogue (so funny) or the twists (genuinely shocking), and I'd never get tired of the way Erin Singer portrays Las Vegas (sweaty and a little desperate, with unbeatable sunsets). Obviously, I will read whatever she writes next."
--Rainbow Rowell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Cherry Baby

"A zany, outrageous, hilarious romp through the phantasmagoric sprawl of Las Vegas, suburbia on steroids, a place beyond satire. This more-American-than-America milieu, long ignored or condescended to, is at last written with zest and poignancy thanks to Erin Singer's searing talent, sparkling comedic timing and gift for creating completely unforgettable characters. A true original!"
--Claire Vaye Watkins, author of I Love You, But I've Chosen Darkness

"With rare, pitch perfect prose and a gaze shot through with wisdom, Erin Singer's hilarious, heartbreaking debut Dangerland! grants uncommon access to the Vegas only locals know. I desperately needed Eugenie Zepp and every flawed saint and earnest sinner in her crew and I'd bet the house that you do, too. Erin Singer is my favorite new voice." --Marie-Helene Bertino, author of Beautyland

"Away from the glitter and spark of the Las Vegas strip and tucked into the surreal human landscape of a high-end suburban development, I met my favorite ensemble cast in a long time. This novel is about odd, real people in the shadow of fantasy--of money, beauty, sex and the elusive perfect future. Dangerland! is very funny, very smart and totally addictive. I read it like a gambler at a craps table." --Ramona Ausubel, author of The Last Animal

About the Author

Erin Singer is the winner of a Pushcart Prize and the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. She grew up in the Yukon Territory and northwest Saskatchewan, and received her MFA in fiction at the Institute of American Indian Arts. Her work has been published in Ploughshares and Conjunctions. She lives in Las Vegas with her family.