A rare literary-thriller hybrid: The Same River Twice

Ted Mooney's "The Same River Twice" is a rare hybrid (literary thriller that's both literary and a thriller) that satisfied on many levels - lots of action, intriguing plot, smart characters who are flawed and complex, an excellent sense of place, solid writing throughout. It may not be for every reader - maybe not literary enough for some tastes and not fast-paced enough for the thriller addicts - but I hope it might cross-pollinate those different reading audiences. I particularly like that it involves a high-stakes criminal enterprise but that the main characters are just people going about their lives - not CIA or Interpol heroes already embedded in a world of danger. Though I know nothing about him other than this novel and its jacket copy (though of course if you've read someone's novel you do know a lot about him), I think Mooney must be a good guy and a smart conversationalist and would like to meet him someday. In fact, we have worked similar territory, and I would love him to read Exiles and share his comments. I'm not a thriller reader or fan, in particular, but I do believe in credible characters and strong, well-designed plots - it's what I like to read (though my taste runs more toward the classic literary) and try to write - and I'm sure Exiles was subject to some of the same criticism Same River Twice must have or might have faced. I was beaten up in a few reviews for too much incident, for difficult characters (Mooney's are difficult, too, and not entirely sympathetic), and I think Exiles was misunderstood by readers who expected one genre or the other and could not comprehend a hybrid. Of course there are differences, as I worked in a time period set 40 years back and wrote about much younger people and against a leftist political background - while Mooney is contemporary, and not especially political, at least overtly.