A Thousand Cuts: A Novel - Softcover

Simon Lelic has worked as a journalist and currently runs his own business. He was born in Brighton, England in 1976 and lives there now with his wife and two sons. This is his first novel.

*Starred Review* When Detective Inspector Lucia May is assigned to investigate a school shooting, she is expected to interview witnesses and wrap things up quickly. Recently hired history teacher Samuel Szajkowski walked into a school assembly and shot three students and a fellow teacher before turning the gun on himself. But what Lucia discovers about why Samuel, a socially awkward but very dedicated teacher, did what he did is nearly as appalling as the horrific crime scene. A toxic school culture, in which students bullied each other as well as their teachers while the administration turned a blind eye, has personal resonance for Lucia, since she, the only woman in her department, has been on the receiving end of increasingly hostile remarks from her male colleagues. Lelic, a former journalist, switches points of view between firsthand accounts of the event given by students, teachers, and parents and third-person narration of the investigation, an incredibly effective technique that gives his debut novel great immediacy and depth. Lelic wastes not a word in this searing indictment of a culture inured to cruelty: “Why were the weak obliged to be so brave when the strong had license to behave like such cowards?” --Joanne Wilkinson