'Richly atmospheric, by turns coolly satiric and warmly romantic, Alexis Schaitkin's brilliant debut novel Saint X imagines a chorus of voices in the aftermath of the alleged rape/murder of a privileged American girl vacationing in an exotic Caribbean country. Part "true-crime" thriller and part coming-of-age novel narrated by the deceased girl's younger sister, Saint X is irresistibly suspenseful and canny.' JOYCE CAROL OATES