The Millions

‘The Ventriloquists’: Featured Fiction from E.R. Ramzipoor

In today’s edition of featured fiction—curated by our own Carolyn Quimby—we present an excerpt from E.R. Ramzipoor’s debut novel, The Ventriloquists, out today from Park Row.

In its starred review, Booklist called The Ventriloquists “A compelling historical thriller,” while Publishers Weekly called the book “Sprawling and ambitious, with crisp pacing and fully realized characters.”

2 Years Before
Faux Soir

The Pyromaniac

Let me tell you something about my friend Marc Aubrion. Though I have known many writers who were given to stage fright, Aubrion would have found it difficult to define,. To be alive was to be afraid. Although not every day of the occupation brought us pain—it is easy to forget that now—unpredictability bred our fear. We were trapped inside an arrhythmic heart, holding each other be­tween tremors. Marc Aubrion afraid, but he was our , our jester. When the lights went off, he lit a match with a joke.

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