The Closing Days

by Isaac Kovach

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Pub Date Jul 07 2024 | Archive Date Nov 30 2025

Parallel Grey Press

General Fiction (Adult) | Historical Fiction | Literary Fiction

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Description

For fans of Paul Auster and Elif Batuman, a charming, taut, and compulsively readable exploration of guilt, country, and friendship that follows a young man's relationship with an Austrian college student and her grandfather.

"This book transports you to a fully realized Vienna, with its particular architecture, cafe culture, and residual WWII ghosts."

"Kovach flips expectations of the standard American abroad narrative and strives for something much deeper." -Kirkus Reviews

When Alex Vogel is expelled from Stanford for plagiarism, he travels to Vienna to escape the disappointed glare of his parents and to forget about how thoroughly his last girlfriend dumped him. His trip begins promisingly when he meets Johanna, a captivating student with whom he immediately shares an intense connection. He takes a job working for her grandfather and grows close with them both. They provide the sense of family that Alex often failed to find back home.

One afternoon over coffee, Johanna's grandfather asks Alex to spy on a man as a personal favor. Alex accepts. What he observes forces him to consider that Johanna's grandfather may have committed an unspeakable crime. Reluctant to falsely accuse her family, Alex keeps his suspicions from Johanna while he searches for the truth. Unsure whom to believe and desperate to preserve his relationship with Johanna and her grandfather, Alex plunges forward in pursuit of uncovering the past.

For fans of Paul Auster and Elif Batuman, a charming, taut, and compulsively readable exploration of guilt, country, and friendship that follows a young man's relationship with an Austrian college...

Advance Praise

"A melancholy coming-of-age tale that grapples with profound themes."—Kirkus Reviews

"Kovach flips expectations of the standard American abroad narrative and strives for something much deeper... Kovach is more concerned with more cerebral questions of history, place, and lasting trauma. His spare prose suits a dreary, stone-gray Vienna, where hostility may lurk under every chance encounter."—Kirkus Reviews

"A melancholy coming-of-age tale that grapples with profound themes."—Kirkus Reviews

"Kovach flips expectations of the standard American abroad narrative and strives for something much deeper...

Available Editions

EDITION	Ebook
ISBN	9098990286719
PRICE	$18.00 (USD)
PAGES	275

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Additional Information

Average rating from 7 members

Featured Reviews

Ellen R, Reviewer

An enjoyable read, I quite enjoyed Alex’s character and the way he narrates his story, and the theme of found family is very big in this book. I liked the sense of mystery as the plot unfolds and overall this book was intriguing. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Review will be posted on Instagram and Amazon on pub day and links added to NetGalley.

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Reviewer 1491639

you know when some books are just really great. you can pinpoint but you also cant because its just an all round goodness to it. this is one of those books. its rich, its intriguing and the characters come to life from the pages so you truly feel like you are getting to know them ,you then come to care what happens to them. this story started as one thing and quickly developed into so much more. as we get to know Alex and then how taken he is and the relationship with Johanna and her grandfather you are right there with him, finding out these things and wondering how it might play out. can something suddenly come between them all. and you dont want this for them.
Isaac manages the genres so well, like life isn't one genre this too shows that in full breadth. we have romance, we have general fiction and all of a sudden we've got the tension and exploration into thriller vibes. i was turning for all the moments the high and low points, the edgy and calmer points it was all as involving as the next. and its like the characters could be any one of us or anyone we know. and then suddenly there is so much more to them and to come and we are gripped to find out what could be coming next.
i loved the location too. i was quickly googling different destination and had far too many location tabs open afterwards.
i cant say enough good things about this book. it was great. you know when you just come across those quiet unassuming books. and they make you read with a smile of huge satisfaction. and you say to yourself that this is why you love reading. books like this then you find, those little gems. and it then reminds you of why you love all books.