"Solo Practice" is an unsettling book, distinguished but disturbing, a dark novel of possession, obsession and the corruption of love. It considers the limits of friendship and the definitions of family, exploring the porous boundaries that separate parent from child, brother from sister, friend from lover. A finely crafted, compelling study of the nature of twinship, it celebrates the commonality of soul, while also mining the depths of the unspeakable heart. That is to say, this novel examines the nature of love. In luminous prose these stories follow the lives of four young people, flawed and damaged from the start, chronicling their efforts to help themselves and each other achieve the passage to adulthood. Not all survive the journey, and those who do arrive at places their dreams never imagined. Ultimately, " Solo Practice" is a book about the nature of hope and healing, and the limits of both. Like Raymond Carver, Philip Russell makes us reconsider the meanings of redemption and salvation.