‘This gorgeously written, funny adventure tale will keep readers up finishing it while also quietly breaking their hearts with Alexis’s keen observations of people, kindness, and cruelty.’
— Publishers Weekly, starred review
‘Even though the book is an old-fashioned quest yarn, Alexis’s immense talent gives it an archetypal patina, glossing characters with shades of honor and subtlety that might have been missed in lesser hands.’
— Kirkus Reviews
‘[An] intellectual adventure yarn … Great fun.’
– The Wall Street Journal
‘Alexis did not rest on his laurels after winning the Giller … The Hidden Keys brings to the forefront all the wit, grit, and talent we have come to expect from the reigning Canadian Fiction champ.’
—Libraire Drawn & Quarterly Book of the Week on Largehearted Boy
‘A witty, punchy, loquacious novel … Fun, propulsive reading that really is about the hunt, not the treasure.’
— Library Journal
‘‘The mystery itself does not disappoint, though the events that lead up to the reveal are as much of a gift as the endpoint itself. This unique adventure is a joyful and intelligent undertaking.’
—Foreword Reviews
‘Alexis is a literary cartographer of the highest calibre and The Hidden Keys should be book-marked on everyone’s map.’
— Hamilton Review of Books
‘Though Tancred contains multitudes, one of Alexis’s best tricks involves diverging from his hero’s point of view to introduce a whole host of peripheral figures … Nobody is a mere archetype in Alexis’s universe, and far from digressions (or generic concessions), these subplots suggest the humane, egalitarian sensibility of a writer who’s reluctant to simply instrumentalize his characters.’
— Quill & Quire
‘Alexis shapes his mash-up of ancient tropes and ironic flicks into a wonderful story about fate and family, mainly by peopling it with characters who are simultaneously archetypes and believable individuals. And the puzzle is pretty good, too.’
— Maclean’s
‘It is difficult to convey how gracefully Alexis is able to conjure such baroque minutia without slipping into mannered excess. Just as it is difficult to convey Alexis’s way of avoiding the trappings of genre while offering, in this case, all the essential pleasures of a crime novel: The Hidden Keys is somewhat akin to Elmore Leonard in its attention to idiosyncratic personal style and providing even minor players with active inner lives.’
— The Globe and Mail
