“John Banville's novel Kepler was published in 1981. Now, using the pen name he has adopted for his mystery novels, he returns to [an] exciting era when science and superstition were battling for supremacy.... The ornate style of [the] narrative suits both this rich historical period and the courtly language of Prague, this 'city of masks and make-believe.'”

— The New York Times Book Review

“Black [is] a master of high-class crime fiction, literary noir in the tradition of Georges Simenon and Raymond Chandler…. In characteristically gorgeous prose, he conjures a wintry world of opportunists and occultists, dwarves and hunchbacks, wolves and shadowy black-winged beasts…. The marvelously evoked ‘city of masks and make-believe’ is the [novel’s] great pleasure.”

— The Guardian

“If the Benjamin Black novels are, in the John Banville corpus, the equivalent of Graham Greene’s ‘entertainments,’ [Wolf On A String] must go down as one of the most entertaining…. The interplay of such twinned contraries—stars and darkness, snow and stone, desire and destruction, Black and Banville; each entity illuminating the other—also supply the sparkling style and steely themes of the engrossing, wide-ranging, sneakily ambitious work.”

— The Irish Times

“A swirling kaleidoscope of intrigue, art, blood, sex and magic…. Cleverly, and often amusingly, Black introduces several real characters to his fictional narrative…. A stirring, captivating and perfectly enjoyable read.”

— Independent (Ireland)

“Black displays his mastery of yet another mystery sub-genre in this brooding, atmospheric whodunit set in 16th-century Prague…. Superior prose complements the intricate plot.”

— Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Rich, expansive…. [A] dark, vivid mural of Prague at the turn of the 16th century.”

— Kirkus Reviews