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Canary
Paperback
Mystery & ThrillerLiterary Fiction
Publisher Price: $14.99
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Published: Sep 16 2025
Pages: 146
Weight: 0.39
Height: 0.34 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
Canary is the raucous, harrowing, deeply engaging tale of an irreverent investigator exploring a social ill, perhaps at her own expense...
This is serious entertainment.
--
Canary introduces Detective Winifred 'Freddie' Dauer, a complex cop battling life-and-death stakes both in her fractured mind and on her perilous beat. In this gripping debut, Nic Bettauer crafts a raw, funny tale of resilience, unraveling secrets, and a New York Christmas that's getting way too bloody. From the electrifying opening to the devastatingly emotional climax, Canary grabs you and doesn't let go. - Larry Karaszewski, Co-screenwriter of Ed Wood, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Man on the Moon, The People vs. O.J. Simpson, and Co-creator of American Crime Story
An unforgettable detective with a New York health crisis on her hands as well as in her life battles with wit and tenacity. Dark truths are revealed as this stunning and timely novella progresses, making it even more riveting and harrowing as the mysteries unfold. Using crystal-cut sentences winnowed to perfection, be prepared to be dazzled and hooked by Canary for the entire ride. - Yannick Murphy, Author of This is the Water, The Call, Signed, Mata Hari, and The Sea of Trees
Hard-boiled and haunted, sharp-tongued and laugh-out-loud funny, Freddie is a self-professed 'live wire in a shit storm, ' implacable in her pursuit of answers in the face of trauma, chaos and uncertainty. Canary is a taut, propulsive read, with pitch-perfect dialogue and an unforgettable protagonist. - Reid Sherline, Author of Harvard Review Chapbook Prize Winner, Rapture
A wry lens into the intricacies of human vulnerability and tenderness, and the limits of empathy in the face of loneliness and mystery. - Dave, Middle-aged man at large
This book flies - it is very funny and the prose is beautiful, the characters and dialogue are deep and sharp. Nic is a wonderful writer. And there is such a sense of love in it. I absolutely adored this book. Canary exists perfectly as-is, in literary form, but it is also calling to be adapted as a streamer or movie... - Evan Dunsky, Screenwriter, Creator of Nurse Jackie
Right up my alley. Gave me chuckles. - Anonymous, Ne'er-do-well
Nic takes Canary where few contemporary authors dare. It's splattered with bloody noir and still, this is New York and for every scene set in dour municipal palaces of pain there is hope to be found, but in, maybe hysterical hands here, just as rapidly lost. - LamontPaul for Outsideleft Literature
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