Who By Fire
“Suspenseful, funny, touching, terrifying—I don’t know how Greg Rhyno managed to balance all of these elements in one outstanding story, but I’m so glad he did. Who By Fire is brilliant. And Dame Polara is my absolute favourite new detective. Long may she snoop!” —Elyse Friedman, author of The Opportunist
“Rhyno’s descriptive style and jazz-like prose allow him to make a seamless transition into crime fiction with this crackling whodunnit. Dame Polara is a memorable, complex, and clever sleuth who is here to stay.” —A.J. Devlin, Crime Writers of Canada Award-winning author of Cobra Clutch
“A masterfully paced mystery filled with equal parts charm and grit. Rhyno’s eye for detail and nuanced prose make for a memorable first investigation for Dame Polara. I can’t wait for the next installment.” —Sam Shelstad, Crime Writers of Canada Award-winning author of Citizens of Light
“defying genre conventions, Rhyno delivers a wholly intriguing mystery unlike any other … easily equal to the great twists of the grand masters of the mystery and thriller genres” —Jeff Dupuis, The Miramichi Reader
“Greg Rhyno’s freshman Dame Polara tale is a well-crafted, superbly plotted mystery adventure. Great care is taken in both the characters, the dialogue, and in the overall structure … once Rhyno’s crisp prose gets in your head, it will stay with you for some time.” —Patrick Whitehurst, author of Murder and Mayhem in Tucson
“What a terrific mystery! I loved everything about this new novel … the setting, the characters, the heart.” —Elizabeth Renzetti, author of Bury the Lead
“excellent, riveting, heartfelt, and hilarious … I loved this book. A pitch-perfect pleasure” —Kerry Clare, Pickle Me This
“We want to be led through a maze of potential clues, red herrings, and enigmatic plot twists to a satisfying climax and be left with a lingering feeling that you need to visit these characters and this setting again … Greg Rhyno has crafted an engrossing mystery that does just that … ★★★★★” Angela Meady, The Walleye
“Author Greg Rhyno combines a witty main character with a complex mystery in Who By Fire … ★★★★ ½ stars” —Amy Wilson, Novels Alive
“A real triumph of literary mystery and masterful storytelling. Do yourself a solid and grip this book for your summer reading pile!” —Justin Armsrong, author of Wyomings.
“Bull’s eye, Greg Rhyno! Housing shortages exploited by greedy landlords make this a quintessential Toronto story … the first of what promises to be a highly entertaining series.” —Baņuta Rubess, Funny, You Don’t Look Bookish
To Me You Seem Giant
Shortlisted for the 2018 ReLit Award
Shortlisted for the 2018 Alberta Book Publishing Award for Trade Fiction
A “small press gem.” -Sarah Murdoch, Toronto Star
“There’s some fragment of lost youth on practically every page.” -Naomi K. Lewis, Alberta Views.
“Greg Rhyno is a bit of a magician. He has the ability, through his finely crafted story, to transport you back to age 17, when you were teeming with hormones and angst, music was the only thing that mattered in life, and all you needed for a good time was a good mixed tape, a few dented cans of beer, and, of course, your friends. An engrossing and masterful debut, To Me You Seem Giant reads like a love letter: to the Canadian music scene, to the 1990s, and to the city of Thunder Bay.” -Amy Jones, author of We’re All In This Together
“Rhyno knows of what he writes: the fervor of indie rock adolescence, the convolutions of adulthood, and the heartache in plumbing the past. A poignant and truthful novel, delivered with grace and panache.” -Rob Benvie, author of Maintenance
“Rhyno mixes in enough wit and self-deprecation with the troubles of youth and ennui of adulthood to make the story freshly entertaining, and the encyclopedic list of 1990s-era cultural artefacts provides a warm nostalgia for anyone who grew up in that unique historical moment.” -Will Best, Canadian Literature
“In the end, it’s a love song to adulthood, about the journey from disorder to order, an acknowledgement that you can leave behind a lot of the bad of your youth and still bring all the good music with you.” -Andrew Hood, bookshelf.ca
“To Me You Seem Giant is ultimately a touching and hopeful reminder of the need to confront the demons of your past in order to move on.” -Alexander Kosoris, The Walleye
“Rhyno is a skilled observer. He has a sharp ear for authentic teenage dialogue, capturing peer behaviour with painful accuracy but also with droll humour and sympathy . . . an engaging read and holds out great promise for what might follow.” -Michael Sobota, The Chronicle-Journal
“A brooding tenor – combined with a lifelong love for music that manifests itself in new ways as he ages – lends Pete’s character a believable continuity. This is abetted by chapter transitions that cleverly link past and present events . . . [Rhyno shares] a passion for music and its potential to define a period in someone’s life, or a life entirely.” -Becky Robertson, Quill & Quire
“Underneath the layers of rock and roll is a compelling tale of lost loves, backstabbing bandmates and wondering where it all went wrong.” -Steven Sandor, Avenue Edmonton
A “striking narrative that really portrays a quintessentially Canadian experience” -Jaaron Collins, Worn Pages & Ink
“each character was drawn so empathetically I felt like they were friends of mine by the end of the book; I was sad to close the last page on them.” -Anne Logan, ivereadthis.com
Greg Rhyno’s debut novel To Me You Seem Giant is available now from NeWest Press. Order it today from your favourite independent bookstore or Indigo or Amazon.