“Exhilarating . . . Exiles vividly reveals the difficulty of making moral decisions, and the importance of bonds between people, in a complex world few Americans see.”

“Groner does an excellent job of capturing the realities of life in this war-torn country, from rampant poverty to the beauty of a cremation ritual to the enduring hope of a besieged people in a spectacular land.”

“Groner shines a unique light on a remote, exotic land in his self-confident, rigorous debut novel. His tale of a doctor and his beloved daughter takes a modern-day bent on Seven Years in Tibet and shows the country’s turmoil with a palette that is as affectionate as it is startling…A fast-paced but emotionally resonant story about the bonds that hold fast when we’re far from home.“

“Exiles is rich with well-observed detail and intelligent empathy… Groner keeps things moving, and thankfully that often means moving beyond reader expectations…He’s a brisk, attentive describer of squalor and spiritual bliss – of a whole world, in other words.”

“It’s a pleasure to find a novel that tells you a gripping story while giving you a primer on some aspect of human life with which you are not familiar. Exiles does that. Cary Groner’s first novel puts to good use the 15 years he spent studying Tibetan Buddhism and his experience as a journalist covering medicine and health care…The story is both literary and a page-turner.”

“Exiles opens like a top-notch thriller and moves at a steady clip through clinics, back rooms, remote villages and Buddhist temples. Groner’s voice is fresh, intriguing and highly capable.”

“A thoughtful, suspense-filled meditation on the search for truth in a land far from home.”

“Groner’s picaresque story moves at a lively clip, dropping in an unforeseen twist that carries the reader’s interest to the end.”

“What makes this book a page-turner, if a dark one, is the way it vividly evokes the words that pass through Peter’s mind after he witnesses yet another death: “despair, despair, despair.”

“Groner touches topics profound to human experience. I thoroughly enjoyed Exiles because it goes deeper than mere adventure; it makes you think about those things which matter most….Peter’s conversations with Tibetan monks as he works through deep philosophical issues are both personal and universal….By the time it was over, I felt a bit spiritually renewed myself….I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Buddhist philosophy and the meaning of human existence….It’s also an entertaining way to learn of the political and cultural environment of Kathmandu.”