New in Paperback: Max Frei's THE STRANGER

Max Frei’s novels have been a literary sensation in Russia since their debut in 1996, and when The Overlook Press published The Stranger last year, American readers were equally thrilled.

Fantasy, horror, philosophy, and dark comedy are all ingredients in this amazing work in which a sharp wit and a bewildering web of clues opens up a Pandora's box of secrets. Max Frei is a twenty-something loser—a big sleeper (during the day, that is—at night he can’t catch a wink), a hardened smoker, and an uncomplicated glutton and loafer. But then he gets lucky. He contacts a parallel world in his dreams, where magic is a daily practice. Once a social outcast, he’s now known in his new world as the “unequalled Sir Max.” He’s a member of the Department of Absolute Order, formed by a species of enchanted secret agents; his job is to solve cases more extravagant and unreal than one could imagine—a journey that will take Max down the winding paths of this strange and unhinged universe.

With The Stranger now available in paperback, Overlook is set to release the second volume in Max Frei's "The Labyrinth of Echo" series, The Stranger's Woes, on June 9.