Creepy!
Jane is an author who has had mediocre success. When she notices that her Oxford classmate, Thalia, has a new bestseller, she is reminded of the time they spent together. Jane was obsessed with Thalia. She loved her, but Thalia didn't reciprocate, opting to include Ani in their group. Now 10 years later, Thalia needs Jane. Everything starts to coalesce, and Jane begins to see what she missed.
This is a story of manipulation and disturbing behavior. ( )

(2023) Picked up this book upon Washington Post article about mysteries about authors. Wasn't quite sure about it from the start as the setup is based on current day and flashbacks. 3 characters emerge as the protagonists and each flashback is narrated from the viewpoint of one of those characters. Who do I root for, couldn't tell until close to the end when it took a turn I wasn't expecting. Even the ending left me conflicted. Did enjoy the book however. KIRKUS:
Former classmates at Oxford?s MFA writing program become locked in a vicious death match at a Manhattan writers conference.

Sutanto?s campy thriller follows two successful YA novels and a cozy mystery (among other books) and shows the marks of both genres, with confessional, in-your-face, first-person narration and minimal gore, well off-screen. It begins when Jane Morgan, an unhappy midlist writer of what she calls ?lit fic,? learns that her former classmate (crush, obsession, idol, muse?all of the above) Thalia Ashcroft has hit the bestseller list with a thriller that seems to be partly based on their friendship. Despite their initial intense closeness, Thalia and Jane became estranged after a mysterious incident their first year, and while Jane came back to finish, Thalia never did. Now Jane, mired in a dull marriage to a dull man, with an equally uninspiring career, is determined to reconnect with Thalia and jump-start her life. When she learns that her old friend will be appearing at SusPens Con in New York City, she pawns some apparently stolen jewelry to pay for a plane ticket and hotel room and plows ahead despite the fact that husband Ted insists on tagging along and her literary agency won?t help her get into the show. Jane reveals early on her self-diagnosis: ?Pretty sure I?m a sociopath. I?m not ashamed of it; in fact it?s something I quite like, and I carry the thought in the recesses of my mind like a lucky charm, returning to it the way one might stroke a rabbit-foot once in a while.? In fact, the reason the American Jane chose England for her graduate studies is that it?s considered the third rudest, most unfriendly place in the world (after Russia and France), and life in sunny California is driving her to constant thoughts of mayhem and murder. The plot in both present and past is quite silly, but crazy stalker Jane is kind of fun. Her self-knowledge seems limited, however?despite swoony sexual fantasies about Thalia, she continues to believe she?s not attracted to women. When the point of view switches in the second half, with supporting characters streaming in and twists piling on twists piling on twists, some eye-rolling may ensue. On the other hand, Sutanto?s renderings of Jane?s Chinese Indonesian heritage and her experience at Oxford, both autobiographically based, are strong.

At the heart of this multicorpse thriller is a love that dare not say its name. Come on out, Jane.
Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2023

ISBN: 9780593546918

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Berkley

I LOVED this! These antiheroines are fabulous. After finishing this book, I reread several sections because they were so good. I'm off to find other books by this author. ( )