The stranger is a huge man with a battered, ugly face and the look of someone accustomed to violence. He gives his name as John Faith, and evades questions about his purpose in visiting the small Northern California town of Promo. His looks and his taciturn manner give rise to censorious comments and whispered speculation.

When he attracts the attention of an attractive widow known for her wandering eye, he also attracts hostility. He shows unexpected kindness to some, yet most of the townspeople dislike and distrust him with little or no cause. When he is discovered at the scene of a brutal murder, there is no doubt about his guilt in most people's minds.

This is not my usual style; while beautifully written, there is a sense of distance heightened by the frequent changes in points of view. I didn't feel a strong connection with any of the characters, yet I did enjoy the book. A Wasteland of Strangers is likely to appeal to readers of literary fiction; mystery readers will find a mystery, but not perhaps the one they would expect. I wanted to know what was going to happen, and I wanted to know who this stranger, this John Faith, was. That was the heart of the mystery; with the identity of the murderer a distant second.

--Jeri Wright