Tandem - by Andy Mozina (Paperback)

About the Book

"Mike Kovacs is an economics professor who's trying to get over a bitter divorce. He s barely on speaking terms with his only child. And he s just killed two bicyclists in an inebriated hit-and-run at a deserted Michigan beach. (In his defense, he hadn t meant to get that drunk. And what s the use of getting caught and going to jail if it means you can no longer make positive contributions to society? Sunk costs, and all.). Claire Boland s daughter is one of the victims. She s racked with guilt over what she might have done differently as a parent. Her marriage is buckling under the weight of the tragedy. And yet there s one person who seems to understand the magnitude of her grief--her neighbor, Mike Kovacs."--

Book Synopsis

Mike Kovacs is an economics professor who's trying to get over a bitter divorce. He's barely on speaking terms with his only child. And he's just killed two bicyclists in an inebriated hit-and-run at a deserted Michigan beach. (In his defense, he hadn't meant to get that drunk. And what's the use of getting caught and going to jail if it means you can no longer make positive contributions to society? Sunk costs, and all.)

Claire Boland's daughter is one of the victims. She's racked with guilt over what she might have done differently as a parent. Her marriage is buckling under the weight of the tragedy. And yet there's one person who seems to understand the magnitude of her grief-her neighbor, Mike Kovacs.

Tandem is a gripping dark comedy about two lives that intersect in the most awful way possible. Andy Mozina's exquisite novel details the absurd lengths we go to in order to avoid uncomfortable truths. (And to cover up murder--although that's such a strong word, isn't it?) It's a mesmerizing book about the weight of guilt and the longing for justice--and the crazy things we do for love.

One of Electric Literature's 15 Must-Read Small Press Books for Fall 2023!

A NewPages Editor's Choice!

Review Quotes

"Reading Tandem is an education in crime, punishment, and the dark side of human compassion-and somehow it also manages to be hilarious. Mozina's signature hapless characters, through their own foolish decisions, can only manage to make difficult circumstances worse as they move from guilt to grief to absurdity. A psychological tour de force!"

-- Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of The Waters

"A glimmering masterpiece about the slippery nature of truth and redemption, Tandem is at once riveting and contemplative, moving and hilarious, devastating and tender. It does what the best novels do: forever change how we see the world."

-- Erica Ferencik, bestselling author of Girl in Ice, Into the Jungle and The River at Night

"A delicate web of intrigue. Fans of Kimberly Belle, Alex Kiester, and Greg Olear will appreciate Mozina's ability to blend the drama of a domestic thriller with the heartbreak of loss in many forms: death, divorce, and distance."

-- Booklist

"Tandem is gripping, propulsive literary fiction at its finest. When economics professor Mike Kovacs causes a deadly accident, leading to an unconscionable crime, we're ushered into a morality tale of the highest order. Mozina shows expert control over a shocking range of moods and motivations. By turns sad, frightening, disturbing, haunting, and--most surprisingly--funny, this novel wrecked me in all the best ways. Tandem is at times difficult to read, yet even more difficult to stop reading."
-- Darrin Doyle, author of The Beast in Aisle 34

"Tandem is captivating and completely original. I read this story of spiraling consequences with a kind of spellbound horror--like watching a literal car crash--unable to look away or stop turning the pages until the very last. Mozina takes a fearless, brutally honest dive into his hero, a kind of everyman who rides the line between noble and sociopathic. Unable to dismiss his full interior conscience and logic, we are instead forced to recognize ourselves there, as his quandary unfurls into a complexly layered moral allegory that tackles timeless ethical questions. Elegantly written, psychologically harrowing, and perversely humorous, this is a 'Tell-Tale Heart' for our time."
-- Lauren Acampora, author of The Hundred Waters

One of Electric Literature's 15 Must-Read Small Press Books for Fall 2023!

About the Author

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Andy Mozina majored in economics at Northwestern, then dropped out of Harvard Law School to study literature and write. He's published fiction in Tin House, Ecotone, McSweeney's, The Southern Review, and elsewhere. His first story collection, The Women Were Leaving the Men, won the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award. Quality Snacks, his second collection, was a finalist for the Flannery O'Connor Prize. His first novel, Contrary Motion, was published by Spiegel & Grau/Penguin Random House. His fiction has received special citations in Best American Short Stories, Pushcart Prize, and New Stories from the Midwest. He's a professor of English at Kalamazoo College.