Novels

Praise for Killing Jack Armstrong

Jacob Gluckstein results from a one-night stand at Woodstock when his mother was only seventeen. His father takes off and becomes a fugitive protest bomber, leaving only his fake name—Jack Armstrong. At age twelve, Jacob, the narrator, vows to murder his runaway dad. But the confrontation will take some time and a lot of detective work. In the meantime, we are treated to a powerful coming of age story as young Jacob stumbles into manhood, and the revenge plot begins. Both narratives are masterfully written. This novel is right up there with the very best—I might even say outta sight, and far out! 

– Jon Michael Miller, for Readers’ Favorite

In Killing Jack Armstrong, Bob Bachner tells the heart-wrenching story of “Lucky” Jack Stone (nè Jacob Gluckstein). Jack’s vow to kill the man who set in motion the years of suffering and abuse of Jack’s beloved mother parallels his search for purpose, manhood, and independence. As we follow Jack’s escapades on a middle school playground, a prep school campus, in a bustling real estate office, and at various poker tables, Bachner offers a portrait of one man’s journey to find a clear place in an ever- changing world. An engaging, worthwhile read.

– Stephanie Laterza, The Psyche Trials andThe Boulevard Trial

Bob Bachner’s fast-paced novel is the story of a boy who vows to kill his father for abandoning him and his mother. Moving from a small Hudson Valley town to New York City, he confronts innumerable obstacles on his quest to fulfill that vow and grows from a recognizable American innocent into a resourceful and highly intelligent young man. Through the intimate voice of this new American hero, readers will remember their own, earlier pledges to get even. Killing Jack Armstrong  is an engaging novel of an unusual coming of age.

– M.E. Hughes, Letting Go, An Anthology of Attempts; Precious in His Sight and Out of Her Mind, Women Writing about Madness

Praise for Last Clear Chance

Bob Bachner, in his novel, Last Clear Chance, has created two vividly disparate and desperate characters, who require of the author an expressive range that reaches from elegiac dignity to street-bred insolence. Both are haunted by loss and guilt, and Bachner expertly introduces us into the unthreaded labyrinth, in which is hidden the transcendent forgiveness that lies close to the heart of our common. human need.

– Joseph Caldwell, In Such Dark Places, awarded The Rome Prize for Literature by the AmericanAcademy of Arts and Letters

Bob Bachner's Last Clear Chance artfully conjoins the conventions of the existential novel and the Hitchcockian thriller. Bachner shows how human character and destiny are revealed in crucial moments of ethical and moral decision making.

– Francis Levy, Erotomania: A Romance, Seven Days in Rio and of the blog, “The Screaming Pope”

With elegance, wit and mastery, Bob Bachner has created a tale with scenes and characters that have all the edginess of truth. Weaving the richness of generations and the geography of Maine, Virginia and Manhattan, this story and its mysteries do not let the reader go. Last Clear Chance ranks right up there with the best of modern fiction.

– Marta Szabo, The Guru Looked Good and The Impostors

In this heartrending page-turner, Bachner skillfully and sensitively presents the intersecting tales of a retired high school teacher who shares his gripping life story with a troubled high school senior in hopes that he will atone for his life's regrets. A splendid debut. 

– Julie Iromuanya, Mr. and Mrs. Doctor

A haunting, deftly told story about a man with only months left to live, Last Clear Chance gives us an engaging protagonist seeking forgiveness for a lost, tragic moment in the past. In prose that flows like a well-banked stream, a youth, who strays down a dark path, presents him with just that chance.'

– Maureen Brady, Ginger's Fire, Folly, Give Me Your Good Ear and The Question She Put to Herself

I simply cannot recommend Last Clear Chance highly enough. This book is wonderful. Wonderfully written, wonderfully paced and wonderfully executed. Author Bob Bachner has done a masterful job at presenting us with characters that will remain with us long after we have closed the book. Last Clear Chance is a book that would be enjoyed by any reader who loves literary fiction, stories written in a unique way, or just a plain excellent book.

– Chris Fischer for Readers' Favorite

Praise for Baby Grand

One may quarrel with the decisions of the characters in Baby Grand, but they make it a compelling human drama whose agonies are palpable, and whose trajectories are finely woven into scenes which tug at the heart. Lila Grand, born Lina Granatelli, a budding actress from working-class Brooklyn, marries into the family of a wealthy New York builder. What can go wrong you might wonder? But the secret she brings to this union will reverberate tragically throughout a long life. The novel is called Baby Grand, yet Bob Bachner has written a concert grand of a book, whose chords engulf its readers in unforgettable music.

– Jim Story, Problems of Translation and The Condor’s Shadow

Lila Grand is motivated, hard-working, and loving. What could go wrong? From Lila’s present perspective as an elderly, wealthy widow, Baby Grand tells the engrossing story of Lila’s perseverance through the heartache of losing her daughter, Gloria, and her commitment to regain Gloria’s love at all costs in the belief that a mother’s love not only will, but must, triumph. Bob Bachner’s lucid narrative engages the reader in unforgettable scenes of the power of the legal system in child-welfare proceedings and of the influence of the socially prominent. A riveting story told by an accomplished writer.

– The Hon. Marie Corbett, January: A Woman Judge’s Season of Disillusion

What we do for love is not always nice-nice. It’s often shocking.  Lila Grand makes an unexpected pact that transforms the complicated loving and challenging mother-daughter relationship. But she forgets Newton’s Third Law: “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Bob Bachner’s second novel meticulously twirls the backlash of Lila’s actions into an absorbing and mighty satisfying read.  It doesn’t get any better.

– Rhoda Schild, Columnist and Blogger