Tandem

Mike Kovacs is an economics professor who's trying to get over a bitter divorce. He's barely on speaking terms with his only child. And he's just killed two bicyclists in an inebriated hit-and-run at a deserted Michigan beach. (In his defense, he hadn't meant to get that drunk. And what's the use of getting caught and going to jail if it means you can no longer make positive contributions to society? Sunk costs, and all.)

Claire Boland's daughter is one of the victims. She's racked with guilt over what she might have done differently as a parent. Her marriage is buckling under the weight of the tragedy. And yet there's one person who seems to understand the magnitude of her grief-her neighbor, Mike Kovacs.

Tandem is a gripping dark comedy about two lives that intersect in the most awful way possible. Andy Mozina's exquisite novel details the absurd lengths we go to in order to avoid uncomfortable truths. (And to cover up murder--although that's such a strong word, isn't it?) It's a mesmerizing book about the weight of guilt and the longing for justice--and the crazy things we do for love.

One of Electric Literature's 15 Must-Read Small Press Books for Fall 2023!

A NewPages Editor's Choice!


About the Author
Born and raised in Milwaukee, Andy Mozina majored in economics at Northwestern, then dropped out of Harvard Law School to study literature and write. He's published fiction in Tin House, Ecotone, McSweeney's, The Southern Review, and elsewhere. His first story collection, The Women Were Leaving the Men, won the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award. Quality Snacks, his second collection, was a finalist for the Flannery O'Connor Prize. His first novel, Contrary Motion, was published by Spiegel & Grau/Penguin Random House. His fiction has received special citations in Best American Short Stories, Pushcart Prize, and New Stories from the Midwest. He's a professor of English at Kalamazoo College.