The Winner Stands Alone - ISBNLookup.com

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This tour de force demonstrates forcefully why Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho is reputed to be the bestselling author in the world. All the events in The Winner Stands Alone transpire in a single day at the Cannes International Film Festival. Igor, an affluent Russian businessman with a terrifying history of violence, descends on this festive scene, intent on reuniting with his adulterous ex-wife or exacting revenge on her and her new lover. In the midst of this chaotic celebrity circus, he pursues his mission, darting through a motley cast of partiers and bit players. Mixing social satire and sheer panic, this fast-paced thriller drives to its breathtaking conclusion, leaving us amazed that the author of The Alchemist would also be capable of this.

Publishers Weekly

Coelho's latest blends spiritual allegory with elements of a thriller and does not lend itself to an easy audio production. Paul Boehmer singlehandedly tackles a cast of characters with a wide spectrum of languages and ethnic identities. The action surrounds 24 fateful hours at the Cannes Film Festival, as Igor kills off members of an elite “superclass” in a sociopathic rage against his ex-wife, Ewa. Boehmer provides a carefully constructed accent and speech pattern to his portrayal of Igor, and delivers an equally impressive turn as Ewa's current spouse, a Middle Eastern fashion mogul. Yet other principal figures in the story—particularly the female characters—do not receive the same attention to vocal detail; consequently, the dialogue exchanges sound uneven. A Harper hardcover (Reviews, Feb. 9). (Apr.)

Library Journal

New York Times best-selling author Coelho's (www.paulocoelho.com) 12th novel, following The Witch of Portobello (2007), is a gritty, bleak, 24-hour panorama of the Cannes Film Festival that skewers the beautiful people of cinema and high fashion. Audie Award nominee Paul Boehmer's (Moby-Dick) rich renderings of the wonderfully complex secondary characters are the highlight of Coelho's latest work, which is quite a departure from his trademark mystical parables. Best suited for appreciators of literary fiction and perhaps also psychological thriller fans. [Audio clip available through www.blackstoneaudio.com; the Harper hc was described as "a timely critique of the degeneration of the world's societal mores," LJ 3/1/09.—Ed.]—Beth Farrell, Portage Cty. Dist. Lib., Garrettsville, OH

New York Times

"[This] Brazilian wizard makes books disappear from stores."

The New Yorker

"[Coelho’s] special talent seems to be his ability to speak to everyone at once. . . . His readers often say that they see their own lives in his own books."