“A SWEAT-SOAKED DOOM SPIRAL”
-Publishers Weekly
On the Difference Between Feeling Powerless and Powerlessness - in conversation with Lindsay Hunt on I’m a Writer But.
The Beachworthy Books Lovers of Queer Lit Are Devouring This Summer - on NBC.com.
Craig Willse’s Playlist for His Novel, Providence - on Largehearted Boy.
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“Willse debuts with a consuming psychological thriller that turns familiar tropes of dark academia and fatal attraction on their heads. The result is a memorable, steamy, and accomplished queer thriller.”
- Publishers Weekly
“Providence’s bad gays will keep you up all night with their terrible decisions, hot sex, and irresistible trail of hidden clues. Is Craig Willse the secret love child of Tana French and Patricia Highsmith? There’s no other explanation. My new favorite thriller!”
- Andrea Lawlor, author of Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl
“Providence is a deeply compelling meditation on the ways desire and loneliness conspire to make even the brightest people betray themselves. Willse's clear, intelligent writing has both heart and thrills. I stayed up all night reading this incredible novel.”
- Kyle Dillon Hertz, author of The Lookback Window
“Providence is a page-turning thriller. It's also a queering of the modern-day gay narrative. Willse has crafted a sexy debut with a protagonist who doesn't fit the worn tropes of damaged victim or oppressed saint, but instead a morally-ambiguous anti-hero who keeps you guessing.”
- Alejandro Varela, National Book Award Finalist and author of The Town of Babylon
“This book builds slowly, gracefully, and we’re nearly three-quarters into it when that magical thing happens and readers begin to realize that nothing is what they thought it was. Wonderfully paced and terrifying in its conclusions, this is a book meant to be devoured, not read. I absolutely cannot wait for Willse’s next work.”
- Brian Kenney, firstCLUE Reviews