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Editorial Content for The Frenzy: Stories

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

For over half a century, Joyce Carol Oates has been recognized as one of the finest and most respected authors in the business. She has a mastery of the written word and is able to detail human complexities in a way that lesser writers can only dream about.

Oates’ latest release, THE FRENZY, is a collection of short stories that have been published over the past decade. One running theme that permeates each of these tales is characters having to deal with significant change. Read More

Teaser

In THE FRENZY, Joyce Carol Oates plunges us into the lives of her characters at moments of crisis and confusion, when much of what they understand about themselves and those they love comes undone. A young woman on a supposedly romantic weekend trip to Cape May, New Jersey, turns the tables on her older, married lover. A freak bicycle accident on a bridge haunts one family for decades. A girl jealous of her popular cousin discovers she is the lucky one. A widow waits at her riverside house for her dead husband's return. A young man hiking in the woods comes upon a couple in a heated, possibly violent argument. Should he intervene?

Promo

In THE FRENZY, Joyce Carol Oates plunges us into the lives of her characters at moments of crisis and confusion, when much of what they understand about themselves and those they love comes undone. A young woman on a supposedly romantic weekend trip to Cape May, New Jersey, turns the tables on her older, married lover. A freak bicycle accident on a bridge haunts one family for decades. A girl jealous of her popular cousin discovers she is the lucky one. A widow waits at her riverside house for her dead husband's return. A young man hiking in the woods comes upon a couple in a heated, possibly violent argument. Should he intervene?

About the Book

A gripping collection of propulsive, psychologically suspenseful stories by the legendary Joyce Carol Oates “who is surely on any shortlist of America’s greatest living writers” (The New York Times Magazine)

Frenzy (noun): a temporary madness; a violent mental or emotional agitation; intense usually wild and often disorderly compulsive or agitated activity

Joyce Carol Oates is a master of the short story and one of the legends of the form. Her collections of short fiction have twice been finalists for the Pulitzer Prize and have won numerous awards, including the O. Henry Award and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Art of the Short Story. In THE FRENZY: Stories, Oates plunges us into the lives of her characters at moments of crisis and confusion, when much of what they understand about themselves and those they love comes undone.

A young woman on a supposedly romantic weekend trip to Cape May, New Jersey, turns the tables on her older, married lover. A freak bicycle accident on a bridge haunts one family for decades. A girl jealous of her popular cousin discovers she is the lucky one. A widow waits at her riverside house for her dead husband's return. A young man hiking in the woods comes upon a couple in a heated, possibly violent argument. Should he intervene?

Suspenseful and psychologically astute, Oates’ short stories enthrall and captivate as they dissect her characters’ deepest fears --- revealing our own in turn. “Literature is a texture of words,” says Oates of her short fiction, “evoking life in the most vivid ways --- psychologically, physically.” These new stories blazingly evoke life at its most vivid and perilous, when fate and free will intersect, and one ominous encounter or bad choice can be the difference between an ordinary day and the point of no return.

Audiobook available, read by a full cast

Editorial Content for Nine Lives

Book

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

In the shocking pink bathroom, the hand of a woman is sticking out from the bathtub. As we get a closer look, her body is sinking deeper into the water with only a bit of her face still showing. This is all courtesy of the cat who let himself in through the window and is wearing a camera around his neck that is broadcasting this eerie scene to anyone interested in watching it. Read More

Teaser

Reeling from a very recent divorce, Frankie has moved into a glamorous London neighborhood. This is a new chapter in her life. She’s decided to put down roots with her beautiful Persian cat, Blue. But little doubts about her perfect new life start to grow, and when Blue returns one night from slipping into places he shouldn’t, Frankie’s concerns solidify. Two words are roughly scratched into his collar: help me. Unsettled and unwilling to ignore the incident, Frankie roots out an old unused “cat cam” collar. What slowly begins as a voyeuristic fascination with her neighbors and the secrets they’re hiding soon turns into a perilous quest for the truth that threatens to bring untold terrors to her doorstep.

Promo

Reeling from a very recent divorce, Frankie has moved into a glamorous London neighborhood. This is a new chapter in her life. She’s decided to put down roots with her beautiful Persian cat, Blue. But little doubts about her perfect new life start to grow, and when Blue returns one night from slipping into places he shouldn’t, Frankie’s concerns solidify. Two words are roughly scratched into his collar: help me. Unsettled and unwilling to ignore the incident, Frankie roots out an old unused “cat cam” collar. What slowly begins as a voyeuristic fascination with her neighbors and the secrets they’re hiding soon turns into a perilous quest for the truth that threatens to bring untold terrors to her doorstep.

About the Book

When she begins to peer into the lives of her glamorous neighbors, one woman discovers a terrifying secret in this riveting psychological thriller with nine lives worth of twists, from the New York Times bestselling author of SOMETHING IN THE WATER, a Reese’s Book Club pick.

These are your neighbors. One is a killer.

Reeling from a very recent divorce, Frankie has moved into a glamorous London neighborhood. This is a new chapter in her life. She’s decided to put down roots with her beautiful Persian cat, Blue.

But little doubts about her perfect new life start to grow, and when Blue returns one night from slipping into places he shouldn’t, Frankie’s concerns solidify. Two words are roughly scratched into his collar: help me. Unsettled and unwilling to ignore the incident, Frankie roots out an old unused “cat cam” collar. What slowly begins as a voyeuristic fascination with her neighbors and the secrets they’re hiding soon turns into a perilous quest for the truth that threatens to bring untold terrors to her doorstep.

A riveting thriller about the terrible secrets hidden behind the pastel-colored façade of one of London’s most upscale enclaves, NINE LIVES is catnip for suspense readers everywhere and perfect for fans of modern classics like THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN and THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW.

Audiobook available, read by Catherine Steadman

Editorial Content for Rasputin Swims the Potomac

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Reviewer (text)

Harvey Freedenberg

When the White House is occupied by a former reality TV star who stages UFC cage matches on the property's South Lawn, obsesses over building an ornate ballroom, and unleashes a nonstop stream of schoolyard insults at his political opponents on his social media site, it takes considerable ambition on the part of any writer to tackle a political satire.  Read More

Teaser

Reporter Clarence Thomas Jr. is looking for a great story, former country music teen star Faith Spack has parlayed her fame into a job at the White House, and the two-term incumbent president is campaigning for a constitutionally dubious third term. After an outbreak at a campaign rally, a mysterious new pandemic of “weeping sickness” sweeps the nation. Desperate to retain power, the president enlists the mystical pro wrestler Rasputin to help ensure his reelection and guarantee additional seasons of his presidential reality TV show, “The Real West Wing.” But as Rasputin’s appeal threatens to exceed the president’s, and the wrestler’s supposedly supernatural powers start to seem like the real thing, the campaign finds itself trapped in a spandex-clad destiny no number of executive orders can control.

Promo

Reporter Clarence Thomas Jr. is looking for a great story, former country music teen star Faith Spack has parlayed her fame into a job at the White House, and the two-term incumbent president is campaigning for a constitutionally dubious third term. After an outbreak at a campaign rally, a mysterious new pandemic of “weeping sickness” sweeps the nation. Desperate to retain power, the president enlists the mystical pro wrestler Rasputin to help ensure his reelection and guarantee additional seasons of his presidential reality TV show, “The Real West Wing.” But as Rasputin’s appeal threatens to exceed the president’s, and the wrestler’s supposedly supernatural powers start to seem like the real thing, the campaign finds itself trapped in a spandex-clad destiny no number of executive orders can control.

About the Book

From the award-winning, bestselling author of BILLY LYNN'S LONG HALFTIME WALK comes a biting satire of American politics and a searingly intelligent novel about the cruel absurdities of contemporary life, centering on a world champion professional wrestler with presidential ambitions.

Reporter Clarence Thomas Jr. is looking for a great story, former country music teen star Faith Spack has parlayed her fame into a job at the White House, and the two-term incumbent president is campaigning for a constitutionally dubious third term.

After an outbreak at a campaign rally, a mysterious new pandemic of “weeping sickness” sweeps the nation, threatening the president’s hold on the Oval Office. Desperate to retain power, the president enlists the mystical pro wrestler Rasputin to help ensure his reelection and guarantee additional seasons of his presidential reality TV show, “The Real West Wing.”

But as Rasputin’s appeal threatens to exceed the president’s, and the wrestler’s supposedly supernatural powers start to seem like the real thing, the campaign finds itself trapped in a spandex-clad destiny no number of executive orders can control, one in which both Clarence and Faith are compelled to play increasingly large parts.

Hilarious, compelling and tragically relevant, RASPUTIN SWIMS THE POTOMAC is both an escape and a warning, a scathing satire that explores the twists and turns of American democracy as it hurtles toward authoritarianism.

Audiobook available, read by Ron Butler 

Editorial Content for The Typing Lady: And Other Fictions

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Jana Siciliano

Ruth Ozeki is a multipurpose writer and thinker. A novelist, filmmaker, Zen Buddhist priest, and a Smith College professor emerita, she is the bestselling author of THE BOOK OF FORM AND EMPTINESS, winner of the UK’s 2022 Women’s Prize for Fiction; MY YEAR OF MEATS; ALL OVER CREATION; and A TALE FOR THE TIME BEING, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She also has written nonfiction and created award-winning documentary films. Read More

Teaser

In this spirited and emotionally resonant collection, award-winning novelist Ruth Ozeki turns her singular gaze to the short story, exploring childhood ambition, youthful desire, midlife reinvention, and the unsparing clarity of old age. A college student falls for her professor and learns to transmute longing into language. A disquieted husband watches with tenderness and unease as the ghost of his wife’s ambition roams the woods outside their home. A long-deceased Beat poet hijacks the mind of a young publishing assistant during a sales meeting, railing against the state of modern literature. A curious grandmother creates a fake online dating profile to spy on her granddaughter’s romantic life --- and sets in motion a deception she can’t control.

Promo

In this spirited and emotionally resonant collection, award-winning novelist Ruth Ozeki turns her singular gaze to the short story, exploring childhood ambition, youthful desire, midlife reinvention, and the unsparing clarity of old age. A college student falls for her professor and learns to transmute longing into language. A disquieted husband watches with tenderness and unease as the ghost of his wife’s ambition roams the woods outside their home. A long-deceased Beat poet hijacks the mind of a young publishing assistant during a sales meeting, railing against the state of modern literature. A curious grandmother creates a fake online dating profile to spy on her granddaughter’s romantic life --- and sets in motion a deception she can’t control.

About the Book

A spellbinding story collection from Booker Prize finalist Ruth Ozeki, about the lives we almost lived, the people we can’t quite forget, and the stories that shape us long after the last page is turned.

In this spirited and emotionally resonant collection, award-winning novelist Ruth Ozeki turns her singular gaze to the short story, exploring childhood ambition, youthful desire, midlife reinvention, and the unsparing clarity of old age. With her distinctive blend of wit, warmth and deep humanity, she brings us 11 richly imagined stories of characters standing at life’s thresholds --- grappling with faded ideals, evolving identities, and the inevitable compromises that shape a life.

A college student falls for her professor and learns to transmute longing into language. A disquieted husband watches with tenderness and unease as the ghost of his wife’s ambition roams the woods outside their home. A long-deceased Beat poet hijacks the mind of a young publishing assistant during a sales meeting, railing against the state of modern literature. A curious grandmother creates a fake online dating profile to spy on her granddaughter’s romantic life --- and sets in motion a deception she can’t control.

Spanning eras and geographies --- from a New England college town in the 1970s to downtown Manhattan in the 1990s to a moss-covered Pacific Northwest island during the early pandemic --- THE TYPING LADY is an electrifying meditation on the stories we tell ourselves, the stories we abandon, and the stories we become. Threaded with the tactile ephemera of writing --- typewriters, letters, manuscripts and disappearing ink --- the book reveals how we record ourselves in language, and how language, over time, records us in return.

Audiobook available; read by Jeff Ebner, George Newbern and Akie Kotabe 

Editorial Content for The Housewives Underground: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the JFK Assassination Our Most Enduring Mystery

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Philip Zozzaro

It was half past noon when the gunfire hit the Presidential motorcade traveling through Dealey Plaza. The joy that enveloped the attending crowds devolved into shock and horror as they witnessed the mortal wounding of President John F. Kennedy and the serious wounding of Texas Governor John Connally.  Read More

Teaser

In the winter of 1967, the official account of the Kennedy assassination was beginning to unravel. A scattered group of Americans had pointed to major problems with the report prepared by President Johnson’s handpicked Warren Commission. Many of the most serious criticisms of the government’s work came from a source that surprised some: women who, within the community of critics, outnumbered the men two to one. Politicians and reporters dismissed these women, referring to them as “scavengers” and suggesting they were eccentrics with murder-mystery fixations or crushes on the deceased President Kennedy. But Kaitlyn Tiffany resurrects the story of Maggie Field, Shirley Martin and Sylvia Meagher, whose collaboration and friendship reshaped both their own lives and our national memory.

Promo

In the winter of 1967, the official account of the Kennedy assassination was beginning to unravel. A scattered group of Americans had pointed to major problems with the report prepared by President Johnson’s handpicked Warren Commission. Many of the most serious criticisms of the government’s work came from a source that surprised some: women who, within the community of critics, outnumbered the men two to one. Politicians and reporters dismissed these women, referring to them as “scavengers” and suggesting they were eccentrics with murder-mystery fixations or crushes on the deceased President Kennedy. But Kaitlyn Tiffany resurrects the story of Maggie Field, Shirley Martin and Sylvia Meagher, whose collaboration and friendship reshaped both their own lives and our national memory.

About the Book

The untold story of the women who debunked the Warren Report --- a riveting history of obsession, heartbreak and the myth of the great American century.

In the winter of 1967, the official account of the Kennedy assassination was beginning to unravel. A scattered group of Americans had pointed to major problems with the report prepared by President Johnson’s handpicked Warren Commission. Many of the most serious criticisms of the government’s work came from a source that surprised some: women who, within the community of critics, outnumbered the men two to one.

Politicians and reporters dismissed these women, referring to them as “scavengers” and suggesting they were eccentrics with murder-mystery fixations or crushes on the deceased President Kennedy. But in THE HOUSEWIVES UNDERGROUND, Kaitlyn Tiffany resurrects the story of Maggie Field, Shirley Martin and Sylvia Meagher, whose collaboration and friendship reshaped both their own lives and our national memory. Field hosted screenings of the Zapruder film and raised money to pursue new leads. Martin traveled frequently to Dallas, enlisted her children to help interview witnesses, and irritated J. Edgar Hoover with her “antagonistic” attitude toward the FBI.

And at the center of the story is Sylvia Meagher --- a born-and-raised New Yorker who was devoted to the ballet and the Mets, cultivated fierce friendships and firm grudges, and dedicated 25 years to her conviction that the whole truth of JFK’s assassination had not been told.

Painstakingly researched and engrossing, THE HOUSEWIVES UNDERGROUND takes readers back to the turbulent 1960s and 1970s --- a time when Americans’ belief in their government was eroding --- introducing readers to the so-called housewives who asked the first, hardest questions about one of the most shocking events in American history.

Audiobook available, read by Kirsten Potter 

Editorial Content for The Au Pair

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Kate Ayers

In THE AU PAIR, Teddy Wayne’s stunning novel of suspense, a struggling marriage sets in motion a series of tragic events. 
  Read More

Teaser

Steven Hammer was once a literary star. Now, his career is floundering, his marriage to a high-powered woman is crumbling, and the only bright spot in his life is Astrid, the Norwegian au pair who cares for their children --- and reveres his neglected novels. But what begins as a secret infatuation soon spirals into a scandal that makes them both infamous. As a headline-grabbing trial captivates the world with a salacious story of sex, power and betrayal, Steven must confront the wreckage he’s created --- and the deeper insecurities that fueled it. Is Astrid an innocent young woman caught up in a case beyond her control, or a calculating femme fatale? And how far will he go, driven by desperation and obsession, for her professed love?

Promo

Steven Hammer was once a literary star. Now, his career is floundering, his marriage to a high-powered woman is crumbling, and the only bright spot in his life is Astrid, the Norwegian au pair who cares for their children --- and reveres his neglected novels. But what begins as a secret infatuation soon spirals into a scandal that makes them both infamous. As a headline-grabbing trial captivates the world with a salacious story of sex, power and betrayal, Steven must confront the wreckage he’s created --- and the deeper insecurities that fueled it. Is Astrid an innocent young woman caught up in a case beyond her control, or a calculating femme fatale? And how far will he go, driven by desperation and obsession, for her professed love?

About the Book

Award-winning author Teddy Wayne follows his breakout sensation, THE WINNER --- a New York Times Top Ten Thriller of the Year --- with another seductively twisty page-turner about the explosive impact of a beautiful Norwegian au pair on a celebrated novelist and his wife.

Steven Hammer was once a literary star. Now, his career is floundering, his marriage to a high-powered woman is crumbling, and the only bright spot in his life is Astrid, the Norwegian au pair who cares for their children --- and reveres his neglected novels. But what begins as a secret infatuation soon spirals into a scandal that makes them both infamous.

As a headline-grabbing trial captivates the world with a salacious story of sex, power and betrayal, Steven must confront the wreckage he’s created --- and the deeper insecurities that fueled it. Is Astrid an innocent young woman caught up in a case beyond her control, or a calculating femme fatale? And how far will he go, driven by desperation and obsession, for her professed love?

With inexorable momentum and sly, lucid prose, Teddy Wayne’s THE AU PAIR is a sleek literary thriller about desire, deception and the unraveling of a man as he grapples with his fading relevance --- when the lies others spin pale beside the fictions we tell ourselves.

Audiobook available, read by Eric A. Altheide 

Editorial Content for Meet Me at the Seaside Cottages

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Pamela Kramer

Jenny Colgan comes through again with her new novel, MEET ME AT THE SEASIDE COTTAGES. Her books need a genre of their own. I suggest “travel-rom,” because they are equal parts romance and detailed descriptions of lovely places that make them seem irresistible. Read More

Teaser

Janey Carter has a lot to be grateful for, including a home by the sea in the Scottish isles. But since her husband left, her confidence has taken a nosedive. And then, out of the blue, her 30-year-old daughter, Essie, announces she’s moving back home. Essie has just lost her job, she can’t afford her rent in Edinburgh, and her boyfriend isn’t ready to commit. No sooner is Essie back under her mother’s roof than an unusual opportunity pops up: the shabby and unloved Seaside Cottages next door come up for sale. Janey has some experience renovating the island’s famous stone fisherman’s cottages, and Essie needs something to do. Mother and daughter slowly bond over the shared challenge, which delivers some much-needed revelations for Essie and offers Janey a surprise second chance at love as well.

Promo

Janey Carter has a lot to be grateful for, including a home by the sea in the Scottish isles. But since her husband left, her confidence has taken a nosedive. And then, out of the blue, her 30-year-old daughter, Essie, announces she’s moving back home. Essie has just lost her job, she can’t afford her rent in Edinburgh, and her boyfriend isn’t ready to commit. No sooner is Essie back under her mother’s roof than an unusual opportunity pops up: the shabby and unloved Seaside Cottages next door come up for sale. Janey has some experience renovating the island’s famous stone fisherman’s cottages, and Essie needs something to do. Mother and daughter slowly bond over the shared challenge, which delivers some much-needed revelations for Essie and offers Janey a surprise second chance at love as well.

About the Book

This summer, escape to the Seaside Cottages in the Scottish isles with this delightful mother-daughter story about second chances in love, life and home renovations by New York Times bestselling author Jenny Colgan.

Janey Carter has a lot to be grateful for --- a home by the sea in the Scottish isles, a job that she loves, two kids who have successfully launched, and a network of kind and supportive friends. But since her husband left, her confidence has taken a nosedive. And then, out of the blue, her 30-year-old daughter, Essie, announces she’s moving back home. Janey loves Essie dearly, but she was never the easiest to live with, and Janie has been enjoying the empty nest life.

Yes, Essie Carter has just lost her job, she can’t afford her rent in Edinburgh, and her boyfriend isn’t ready to commit. She hates to admit defeat and isn’t wild about moving back to the remote island community where she was raised. But maybe the sea air will clear her head?

No sooner is Essie back under her mother’s roof than an unusual opportunity pops up: the shabby and unloved Seaside Cottages next door come up for sale. Janey has some experience renovating the island’s famous stone fisherman’s cottages, Essie needs something to do, and they could both use a little Air B&B income to warm their pockets. Mother and daughter slowly bond over the shared challenge, which delivers some much-needed revelations for Essie and offers Janey a surprise second chance at love as well.

Audiobook available, read by Eilidh Beaton 

Editorial Conent for Three Hitmen and a Baby: An Assassins Anonymous Novel

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

If you are looking for an offbeat series that combines thrills, kills and dark humor, while holding up a magnifying glass to the deeply clandestine role of a hired killer, then Rob Hart’s wonderfully entertaining Assassins Anonymous series is for you. The third and latest installment is THREE HITMEN AND A BABY, a title that I am sure Hart conceived of with tongue firmly in cheek. Read More

Teaser

Valencia receives troubling news that her brother has gone missing. Her fellow Assassins Anonymous members --- Mark, Astrid and Booker --- offer to watch her baby girl, Lucia, while she's gone. Shortly after Valencia leaves, Mark is summoned to the lair of Zmeya, a Russian mob boss calling in a deadly favor. She wants him to kill Astrid. Mark refuses, but Zmeya reveals that she knows the identity of Mark’s ex-girlfriend…and his son. Either Astrid goes, or they do. Meanwhile, Lucia spikes a dangerously high fever, and when Booker and Astrid take her to urgent care, they realize too late that their fabricated identities are a real liability. Suddenly the splintered group is on the run from both the Russian mob and the police as they try to find refuge in a city full of surveillance cameras --- all without killing anyone.

Promo

Valencia receives troubling news that her brother has gone missing. Her fellow Assassins Anonymous members --- Mark, Astrid and Booker --- offer to watch her baby girl, Lucia, while she's gone. Shortly after Valencia leaves, Mark is summoned to the lair of Zmeya, a Russian mob boss calling in a deadly favor. She wants him to kill Astrid. Mark refuses, but Zmeya reveals that she knows the identity of Mark’s ex-girlfriend…and his son. Either Astrid goes, or they do. Meanwhile, Lucia spikes a dangerously high fever, and when Booker and Astrid take her to urgent care, they realize too late that their fabricated identities are a real liability. Suddenly the splintered group is on the run from both the Russian mob and the police as they try to find refuge in a city full of surveillance cameras --- all without killing anyone.

About the Book

Welcome back to Assassins Anonymous, where family is everything and danger lurks around every corner.

Assassins Anonymous isn't just a weekly recovery meeting for reformed killers --- it's also a family.

When Valencia receives troubling news that her brother has gone missing, she wants rush off to LA to find him. But she can’t bring her baby girl, Lucia. Enter the other members of Assassins Anonymous --- Mark, Astrid and Booker, who offer to watch the toddler while she's gone. After all, they're three of the deadliest, most highly skilled people on the planet. What could go wrong?

A lot, it turns out. Shortly after Valencia leaves, Mark is summoned to the lair of Zmeya, a Russian mob boss calling in a deadly favor. She wants him to kill Astrid, his protege and friend. Mark refuses, but Zmeya reveals that she knows the identity of Mark’s ex-girlfriend...and his son. Either Astrid goes, or they do.

Meanwhile, Lucia spikes a dangerously high fever, and when Booker and Astrid take her to urgent care, they realize too late that their fabricated identities are a real liability. Also, they don't know Valencia’s last name, let alone Lucia's. They can hardly blame the staff for calling the NYPD.

Suddenly the splintered group is on the run from both the Russian mob and the police, dodging bad guys and do-gooders while trying to find refuge in a city full of surveillance cameras --- all without killing anyone. That is, until Zmeya captures Sara and Bennett, and Mark is ready to throw his sobriety out the window.

Audiobook available, read by Amy Landon and Neill Thorne

Editorial Content for Social Animals

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Rebecca Munro

Camille Perri, the bestselling author of THE ASSISTANTS and WHEN KATIE MET CASSIDY, combines the cozy hominess of a dog park with Washington, DC-level intrigue in SOCIAL ANIMALS. Read More

Teaser

Val Caruso, Alex Reed and June Kennerson come from completely different worlds. Val is a tough-talking private investigator; Alex is reticent, nervous and on the run from her past; and June is an athlete turned housewife whose true love is her pup. When Val is hired by June’s husband to find out if June is cheating on him, it sets these three women on a collision course. Amid a colorful cast of characters who spend time at the shabby but beloved Hamilton Dog Park, they find they have more in common than they thought. But when their secrets catch up with them, will their newfound friendships be able to withstand the pressure? Or will they find themselves in the doghouse?

Promo

Val Caruso, Alex Reed and June Kennerson come from completely different worlds. Val is a tough-talking private investigator; Alex is reticent, nervous and on the run from her past; and June is an athlete turned housewife whose true love is her pup. When Val is hired by June’s husband to find out if June is cheating on him, it sets these three women on a collision course. Amid a colorful cast of characters who spend time at the shabby but beloved Hamilton Dog Park, they find they have more in common than they thought. But when their secrets catch up with them, will their newfound friendships be able to withstand the pressure? Or will they find themselves in the doghouse?

About the Book

Three women. One dog park. Things are about to get messy.

Val Caruso, Alex Reed and June Kennerson come from completely different worlds. Val is a tough-talking private investigator; Alex is reticent, nervous and on the run from her past; and June is an athlete turned housewife whose true love is her pup.

When Val is hired by June’s husband to find out if June is cheating on him, it sets these three women on a collision course. Amid a colorful cast of characters who spend time at the shabby but beloved Hamilton Dog Park, they find they have more in common than they thought. Soon June is brave enough to aim for what she wants, Alex finds excitement she never expected, and Val is reluctantly opening her heart to the most high-maintenance dog she’s ever met.

But when their secrets catch up with them, will their newfound friendships be able to withstand the pressure? Or will they find themselves in the doghouse?

SOCIAL ANIMALS is a funny and sharp social commentary on community, privilege, dog ownership, and the ultimate power of finding your people (and your pets).

Audiobook available, read by Ellen Adair and Mark Bramhall

Editorial Content for Good Company

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Norah Piehl

Kate Christensen's latest novel, GOOD COMPANY, is not an easy read, but it is a vital one. It engages head-on with some thorny topics and features a deeply flawed protagonist contending with the anxieties of being a female writer in late middle age.

The book is autofiction (of a sort) as its narrator, Julia Heimdahl, shares many biographical details with the author. Several of the characters Christensen brings to life on the page have real-life antecedents, albeit with different names. Read More

Teaser

Ever since her father broke her heart when she was nine, Julia Heimdahl has tried to be good company for bad men: a jovial drinking companion, an easygoing, witty non-complainer, one of the boys. Now a literary novelist in late middle age and late mid-career, she is at a moment of crisis, although she doesn’t know it yet. GOOD COMPANY takes place over the course of a weekend-long book festival at Baldwin College, which happens to be Julia’s alma mater, where she has come to promote her recently published memoir. She’s been placed on a panel with a fellow memoirist named Ellis Blackwell, a man so outrageously flirtatious and fawningly flattering that Julia is almost too disarmed to recognize how dangerous he is. 

Promo

Ever since her father broke her heart when she was nine, Julia Heimdahl has tried to be good company for bad men: a jovial drinking companion, an easygoing, witty non-complainer, one of the boys. Now a literary novelist in late middle age and late mid-career, she is at a moment of crisis, although she doesn’t know it yet. GOOD COMPANY takes place over the course of a weekend-long book festival at Baldwin College, which happens to be Julia’s alma mater, where she has come to promote her recently published memoir. She’s been placed on a panel with a fellow memoirist named Ellis Blackwell, a man so outrageously flirtatious and fawningly flattering that Julia is almost too disarmed to recognize how dangerous he is. 

About the Book

From the brilliant Kate Christensen, winner of the PEN/Faulkner award for THE GREAT MAN, comes a compelling, searing, funny novel about women, sex, power and self-reckoning.

Ever since her father broke her heart when she was nine, Julia Heimdahl has tried to be good company for bad men: a jovial drinking companion, an easygoing, witty non-complainer, one of the boys. Now a literary novelist in late middle age and late mid-career, she is at a moment of crisis, although she doesn’t know it yet.

The novel takes place over the course of a weekend-long book festival at Baldwin College, which happens to be Julia’s alma mater, where she has come to promote her recently published memoir. She’s been placed on a panel with a fellow memoirist named Ellis Blackwell, a man so outrageously flirtatious and fawningly flattering that Julia is almost too disarmed to recognize how dangerous he is. 

Interweaving excerpts from Julia's memoir with her encounters with important people from her past --- the woman she was in love with in college, her old New York mentor, her male editor, her literary nemesis, a former graduate student --- GOOD COMPANY examines what it really means to be “good company" as Julia faces her demons and comes to terms with what she really wants from sex, life and work.

Audiobook available, read by Teri Schnaubelt