In July of 1995, the news photographer Gray Banick disappeared into the Bosnian war zone and doing so took away pieces of the hearts of three peopl...
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Dec 16, 2009
Sue
rated it: 
After having his heart broken, American photographer Gray Banick travels to Bosnia and into a war zone. Gray’s interpreter Emil, and his mentor Jack, often question Gray about the girl in the picture he carries with him. They know she is the reason he is here, but do not know the story behind his heartbreak. Her name is Lian Zhao and she and Gray were very much in love. Lian, however, wasn’t strong enough to face her parent’s disapproval of Gray so she chose to marry another man. Gray has travel
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Oct 26, 2009
Jackie says:
The title phrase comes up as one of the characters describes a sleepless night where "the evolution of shadows" keeps him from knowing what was truly there in the room with him
and what was not. The whisper of that phrase wafts in and out of the narrative of the main characters as they move back and forth in time, experiencing the things that become their shadows, their haunts, their memories. Gray Banick is photographer who plunges into the Bosnian war zon More...
The title phrase comes up as one of the characters describes a sleepless night where "the evolution of shadows" keeps him from knowing what was truly there in the room with him
and what was not. The whisper of that phrase wafts in and out of the narrative of the main characters as they move back and forth in time, experiencing the things that become their shadows, their haunts, their memories. Gray Banick is photographer who plunges into the Bosnian war zon More...
Oct 19, 2009
Lisa
rated it: 
War is gritty and messy, rarely as glorious as it is in the movies or as sanitized as it can seem from a distance. The Balkan wars in the 1990s — particularly the Serbian “ethnic cleansing” in Bosnia — reached a level of horror Europe hadn’t witnessed in decades. Those horrors reach out and punch readers of “The Evolution of Shadows” right in the gut.
This debut novel by Jason Quinn Malott doesn’t dwell on the fighting, or the mass executions, or the wanton rapes; rather, it intersperses swi More...
This debut novel by Jason Quinn Malott doesn’t dwell on the fighting, or the mass executions, or the wanton rapes; rather, it intersperses swi More...
Oct 19, 2009
Jackie
rated it:
The title phrase comes up as one of the characters describes a sleepless night where "the evolution of shadows" keeps him from knowing what was truly there in the room with him
and what was not. The whisper of that phrase wafts in and out of the narrative of the main characters as they move back and forth in time, experiencing the things that become their shadows, their haunts, their memories. Gray Banick is photographer who plunges into the Bosnian war zone after his heart is b More...
and what was not. The whisper of that phrase wafts in and out of the narrative of the main characters as they move back and forth in time, experiencing the things that become their shadows, their haunts, their memories. Gray Banick is photographer who plunges into the Bosnian war zone after his heart is b More...
Oct 01, 2009
Gaby
rated it:
Synopsis:
In 1999 Lian Jiang is surprised by a letter from Emil Todorovic in Bosnia-Herzegovina about Gray Banick who disappeared in July 1995. Emil has custody of Gray's remaining possessions and since he had spoken of her and written her over the years, Emil considered her his next-of-kin contact. The news comes as a shock. Though she is now married to an up-and-coming Chinese surgeon, Lian is driven to find Gray. She flies to Bosnia and meets up with two other people whose lives Gr More...
In 1999 Lian Jiang is surprised by a letter from Emil Todorovic in Bosnia-Herzegovina about Gray Banick who disappeared in July 1995. Emil has custody of Gray's remaining possessions and since he had spoken of her and written her over the years, Emil considered her his next-of-kin contact. The news comes as a shock. Though she is now married to an up-and-coming Chinese surgeon, Lian is driven to find Gray. She flies to Bosnia and meets up with two other people whose lives Gr More...
Oct 22, 2009
Kristi (Books and Needlepoint)
rated it: 
This novel is about the coming together of 3 unrelated people to search for Gray Banick, a news photographer who disappeared 5 years earlier in the Bosnian war zone. Lian was his girlfriend - and also the reason he went to Bosnia; Emil was the interpreter he met while on assignment, and Jack was a fellow news photographer who was Gray's mentor.
These three people come together to try to search for Gray, or Gray's remains, as a way to put an end to that chapter in their lives. Emil is More...
These three people come together to try to search for Gray, or Gray's remains, as a way to put an end to that chapter in their lives. Emil is More...
Nov 13, 2010
Linda
rated it:
Interesting book set in post-war Bosnia. It was an important book for me to have read because it opened my eyes to the reality of the suffering the Bosnians experienced during their war. I was ashamed to admit that I managed to "miss" that conflict in the 1990's, considering it, as I've since learned many others did as well, a local ethnic disagreement.
My book group had the pleasure of talking with the talented young author by conference phone call when we met to discuss t More...
My book group had the pleasure of talking with the talented young author by conference phone call when we met to discuss t More...
Jan 10, 2012
Jennifer
rated it:
From My Blog....[return][return]The Evolution of Shadows by Jason Quinn Malott takes the reader on an emotional ride as three of Gray Banick's friends, a veteran photojournalist, a translator, and an ex-lover return to Gray Banick's last known whereabouts in hopes of finding some evidence of what became of him. In 2000, Jack Mackenzie and Lian Zhao travel to war-torn Bosnia to meet up with Emil Todorović to search for their mutual friend, photojournalist Gray Banick who was last seen in July 199
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Jun 03, 2010
Rebekah
rated it:
The story in this debut novel is a trio of people going back to Bosnia after the war to look for their lost, or perhaps dead, colleague/friend/ex-lover). We get cinema-style flashes of everyone’s history, lingering focus on sensual details, and ultimately a completed puzzle of how each character arrived at this point in their life. The book never shies from the brutal realities of both war and love, while masterfully avoiding the maudlin and treacle.
Feb 18, 2010
Chelsea
rated it:
Emil, Jack, and Lian are three very different people who come together with one thing in common: their love of a former lover and colleague named Gray. As a group, they return to Sarajevo to track him down and bring him home. The plot takes place from within war-torn land, thick with the memories of when all three were last there. This setting provides a dark and heavy feel that comes across as oddly refreshing.
Malott has written an engaging and beautiful book that is gripping and ye More...
Malott has written an engaging and beautiful book that is gripping and ye More...
Jan 25, 2011
Jennifer
rated it:
This was one book I had trouble putting down. It is a love story and a war story. The Bosnian War/Genocide. Parts are very disturbingly graphic and others hauntingly beautiful. A first novel well worth reading.
Jan 27, 2010
Kym
rated it:
The non-linear multi-voice narration made me love this book. It's an incredibly haunting story -- would make a great movie.
Aug 15, 2010
Kara
rated it:
I found myself falling into this story. I liked that the story being told switches back and forth between the characters.
Oct 12, 2009
Lisa
rated it:
I couldn't put this one down; I had to find out what happened to these characters. At times the back and forth in time business got confusing but the writing about the war in Bosnia was so haunting.
May 03, 2010
Autumn
rated it:
Three and a half stars, really. The time line jumps around a LOT. Not impossible to follow, but slightly annoying. I did enjoy it overall though.
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