Praise for Last Seen

“A brooding, lyrical story about the preciousness of life brought to us by the voices of the dead… Castellani creates a poignant reflection on love and loss in the stories of his lost boys — and the people they’ve left behind.” Kirkus

“….[M]esmerizing and luminous… a literary mystery with a supernatural twist, rooted in humanity and enduring love. Castellani renders his characters in ‘Last Seen’ with exquisite sensitivity and compassion, crafting a nuanced and propulsive tale that resists expectation and cliché. Complex and absorbing, ‘Last Seen’ weaves together a wide assortment of characters and dovetailing narratives, which in less capable hands might read as meandering and confusing. Yet Castellani expertly braids together these various plot threads in an illuminating and engaging capacity right up to the book’s moving conclusion… Each intertwined fate is a poignant testament to the love that extends between people in this life and beyond.” The Boston Globe

“The beginning of Christopher Castellani’s ‘Last Seen’ reads like a whodunit: Four young men have died under mysterious circumstances, their bodies left in riverbeds across the U.S…. readers who were drawn in by the suspenseful setup will depart with an appreciation for the quiet but powerful truths found in their reflections. The most distinctive element of ‘Last Seen’ is how Castellani writes the voices of the dead. Rather than fit the paranormal into a familiar frame of reference, Castellani crafts perspectives that scoff at chronological time and geographic specificities but are abundant in poetry. He dazzles with apt meditations on masculinity, freedom and all the grittiness inherent in human connection, all presented in colloquial language. In an age of true crime obsession, ‘Last Seen’ gives a voice to the spirits of people lost. This is a novel that transforms the objects of spectacle into subjects with dignity.” Ember V. Tharpe, BookPage

“…’Last Seen’ first reminded me of Kevin Brockmeier’s 2006 novel, ‘The Brief History of the Dead,’ where lost souls wait in a city in a kind of second life, waiting for the last memory of them in the ‘real’ world to fade. Wonderfully, Castellani puts his characters in an even bigger role, giving them a clear, if inconsistent, ability to influence the world of the living. These boys get to watch the mothers, girlfriends and old lovers wander through their lives after losing them. They’re haunted by them, as we all are, but not exactly in the way you might imagine… In total, Castellani does a fairly incredible thing: He removes his central narrators from the action of the story and instead builds a world that remembers them and, further, can’t hide from the truths and confessions in their memory.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Award-winning author Castellani combines his knowledge of the Italian diaspora and the LGBTQIA+ experience in this devastating tableau of teenage anguish. [Last Seen] is a raw … beautifully rendered exploration of the transformative and sprawling nature of suffering.” Joelle Egan, Booklist

”[Last Seen] has dug out the psychological truth of the ‘Smiley Face Murders’ more completely than any previous interpretation. [It is] captivating… extremely well-done. The plot and mysteries are engaging, the characters are complex, the moralities ambiguous and thought-provoking. The theme connecting the four young men — or boys, as they are often referred to by the older characters — becomes an important topic, one not generally discussed: male loneliness and despair. Love is an answer, yet love is the greatest danger… Some readers may be tempted towards a transcendent answer, but Last Seen is ultimately agnostic. What we can know for sure are the struggles and frustrations of this world, the rays of love that shine in and then flicker off all too suddenly. For the dead men, what they know are their memories and the lives of the ones they left behind. If there is transcendence it is like love: a grace that is received, not taken.” Philip Janowski, Chicago Review of Books

“Ambitious in concept and executed with amazing skill, Last Seen is a novel about lost souls. Four young men who never knew each other find community in the afterlife as they try to make sense of their lives and deaths. Their lives ended in icy rivers miles apart. Was there some connection among them? They patiently tell their stories, reliving the pain of addiction, obsession, and love. They agonizingly observe and try to communicate with their living loved ones. A heartbreaking work of literary fiction that should be Castellani’s breakout book.” Stan Hynds, Northshire Bookstore

“Last Seen is something very different for author Christopher Castellani — a literary mystery about four young men, all killed and dumped in rivers, who observe the world after their deaths. They observe the people they loved, their families, and the police as investigations — both the police and amateur sleuths — proceed. It’s not so much a thriller, but an examination of young men today — their problems, their loneliness, and their desperation as they try to fit a predetermined destiny mapped out by a promise from America. Over decades they watch and observe and try to sort their deaths out. It’s very Lovely Bones meets God of the Woods, and it works beautifully.” William Carl, An Unlikely Story Bookstore

“Four boys lost in different years, in different parts of the country, and later found in different rivers. Are they part of a network? Is this a conspiracy? Maybe they’re the trophies of a single serial killer? Read on—and read quickly—to find out. This literary thriller feels like God of the Woods if the missing boy could talk. And it’s just that good.” Laurel Rhame, Phoenix Books

“Christopher Castellani is a master of portraying love and longing, and his latest novel may be his finest yet. Deftly interweaving the stories of four doomed young men—and those they leave behind—Last Seen explores our changing notions of masculinity and the ways grief can both make and unmake us. A morally complex and life-affirming exploration of what it means to be alive, and of the enduring power of love to transform, reanimate, and redeem.” Celeste Ng, New York Times-bestselling author of Our Missing Hearts

“Last Seen is a masterful novel: a ghost story, an elegy, a love letter to young men who go missing without a trace. Christopher Castellani writes beautifully about painful things—murder,loss, despair—and yet, by the end, my heart felt full of revelation and tenderness.” Victor LaValle, author of Lone Women

“A brilliant mystery and a haunting meditation on human experience—its echoes through the hearts of those caught in the currents of love and loss. Castellani’s latest is a richly detailed, deeply moving mosaic of voices brought to life by masterful prose.” Mona Awad, New York Times bestselling author of We Love You, Bunny

“A brutal and luminous novel. Christopher Castellani delves into the turbulent waters of one of American society’s most misunderstood characters: the troubled young male. Last Seen begins in death—boys mysteriously found in rivers—but in unraveling the mysteries of their fate, Castellani creates a mesmerizing panorama of young lives on the brink. This novel haunted me with its clarity and rage. Enter at your own risk.” Christopher Bollen, author of Havoc

“In stunning prose filled with acute observations about the relationships that save us, Christopher Castellani has skillfully dramatized the voices of four young men connected by one unforgettable love. Last Seen is a deeply moving novel that reveals how the bonds between the living and the dead continue forever. Its characters are now part of my soul.” Marjan Kamali, New York Times bestselling author of The Lion Women of Tehran

“A riveting thriller of unparalleled heart. At once a murder mystery of dead young men and a kaleidoscope of beautifully felt humanity, Christopher Castellani’s Last Seen is a virtuosic performance by a brilliant storyteller: smooth, incandescent, and devastating. When Castellani trains his precisely observant eye on each of the young men who died, they shimmer to life, and the resulting crescendo cracks open the heart. I gulped this book down.” Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, author of The Fact of a Body