From Publishers Weekly
Ghosts are like homeless people, we are told by DK "Dead" Kennedy, the hero of World Fantasy Award winner Stewart's latest blend of magical realism and Texas regionalism: most of us look away, but he can't. This ability to see the other side complicates life tremendously (he can't drive because at night ghosts look just like the living, and he's wrecked cars avoiding them), especially when a distant cousin hires him to exorcise the ghost of a girl the cousin murdered. Part of the novel deals with DK's offbeat career as an alternative exorcist, but what Stewart seems really to focus on is how these abilities now threaten his relationships with family, both immediate and extended. DK still loves his ex-wife and is active in the life of his daughter, but comes to realize that he's like a ghost in their lives: "Not all ghosts are dead, but all are hungry." Stewart's compelling account of how DK comes to grips with his ghosts, both actual and metaphorical, is alternately poignant and hilarious, with some genuinely creepy moments and one or two powerful jolts. This compelling story is a genre title with strong potential for crossing over into the mainstream. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* DK--William "Dead" Kennedy, that is--is a haunted man. Literally. He sees dead people with unfinished business. Has all his life. Moreover, he is haunted by an ex-wife he can't get over, and, recently, long-deceased Uncle Billy has been pestering him for something as yet unidentified. But never mind the dead; things are tough, anyway. DK isn't exactly a financial success. Always struggling to close the gap between his hourly wage and the cost of fixing his air conditioner, or of taking his savvy 12-year-old daughter to Six Flags, he has just lost his job at Pet-Co for eating cat food in front of a customer to make a point. So when a long-lost cousin calls at 2 a.m. to tell him about the ghost in his garage, it looks like a fast way to a much-needed chunk of change. It is just DK's luck, however, for a simple plot to thicken like lumpy gravy, and suddenly murder is afoot. Dead funny, a little bit scary, and sometimes warm and fuzzy, but not too, among the greatest of Perfect Circle's virtues is that daughter Megan, like father DK, is quirky and totally believable. She is also, unlike him, wise and hip, and she knows when to keep her mouth shut. At last, DK begins growing up, moving on, and, with Uncle Billy's help, bringing his past to a close. All-around terrific. Paula Luedtke
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Booklist
* (starred review) "All-around terrific."

Publishers Weekly
Alternately poignant and hilarious, with some genuinely creepy moments and one or two powerful jolts.

Joe Lansdale, author of Sunset and Sawdust
A perfect read, exciting, unique, everything here but the Second Coming, but, Stewart himself is the prize. What a talent.

Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Club
Perfect Circle is Sean Stewart at his spooky, funny, sad, and haunting best.

Cory Doctorow, author of Eastern Standard Tribe
I read it all in one gulp, by turns fearful and joyful for Stewart’s likable loser protagonist.

Book Description
William "Dead" Kennedy has problems. He’s haunted by family, by dead people with unfinished business, and by those perfect pop songs that you can’t get out of your head. He’s a 32-year-old Texan still in love with his ex-wife. He just lost his job at Pet-Co for eating cat food. His air-conditioning is broken, there’s no good music on the radio, and he’s been dreaming about ghost roads. When Will’s cousin ("My dad married your Aunt Dot’s half-sister") calls in the middle of the night about a dead girl haunting his garage, it seems like an easy way to make a thousand dollars. But nothing is ever that simple, especially when family is involved. Will’s mother is planning a family reunion of epic proportions. Will’s ex-wife is married to a former Marine. His twelve-year-old daughter Megan thinks Will needs someone to look after him. And recently his dead relatives seem to want something from him.

From the Publisher
Sean Stewart’s much-anticipated eighth novel is a dark, funny, fast-moving thriller that you won’t want to put down.

About the Author
Sean Stewart is the author of two short stories and seven previous novels: The Night Watch, Galveston, Passion Play, Nobody’s Son, Clouds End, and The New York Times Notable Books Mockingbird and Resurrection Man. He wrote much of the innovative web game associated with the film A.I. His novels have received the Aurora, Arthur Ellis, Sunburst, Canadian Library, and World Fantasy awards. He lives in Davis, CA, with his wife and two daughters.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"William "Dead" Kennedy has problems." "He's haunted by family, by dead people with unfinished business, and by those perfect pop songs that you can't get out of your head. He's a 32-year-old Texan still in love with his ex-wife. He's just lost his job at Petco for eating cat food. His air-conditioning is broken, there's no good music on the radio, and he's been dreaming about ghost roads." "When Will's cousin ("My dad married your Aunt Dot's half-sister") calls in the middle of the night about a dead girl haunting his garage, helping him out seems like an easy way to make a thousand dollars." "But nothing is ever that simple, especially when family is involved. Will's mother is planning a family reunion of epic proportions. Will's ex-wife is married to a former Marine who knows Will is bad news. Will's 12-year-old daughter, Megan, thinks he needs someone to look after him." And recently his dead relatives seem to want something from him.

FROM THE CRITICS

Paul Di Filippo - The Washington Post

Stewart's mastery of Will's first-person narration is unflinching and unfaltering. The voice conjured here is absolutely authentic and affecting, as is the portrait of Houston, Will's stomping grounds. Will's vast extended family of oddballs and losers and honest toilers imparts a John-Crowleyesque heft to the book. And his treatment of the ghosts -- "Ghosts don't do things to you. Ghosts make you do unspeakable things to yourself" -- is truly eerie. Readers familiar with the quotidian spookiness of master English horror writer M.R. James will find similar frissons here, but married to the gritty demimonde in the novels of American noir writer James Crumley, resulting in a fusion of black humor and pathos, blood and ectoplasm.

Publishers Weekly