In previous reviews of books by the legendary Joyce Carol Oates, I referred to her as an American institution. That assertion was confirmed when she won the Raymond Chandler Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024. High praise, indeed!

Oates shows no signs of slowing down with the release of her latest novel, FOX, a weighty 600-page-plus work of literary psychological fiction. The lead figure in this intense character study is Francis Fox, who has been compared to Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley and Vladimir Nabokov’s Humbert Humbert --- two unforgettable fictional creations of dubious character that will have readers following Fox’s exploits with extreme trepidation.

"FOX is so much more than a modern-day LOLITA. Oates layers this extraordinarily complex tale with many surprises that keep the pages turning to the point where the length of the novel seems effortless on her part and impossible to put down."

In the early stages of the book, we are treated to two separate timelines. One features Fox, who has accepted a new teaching position, and the other centers on Mr. Frank Farrell, who was accused of having an unseemly relationship with an underage female student that drove him out of town in shame.

Oates does not hide the fact that these two teachers are indeed the same person. She even notes that Farrell sought his legal representation to permanently have his name changed to escape the stigma put upon it by the crimes of which he was accused. Letting a handful of years go by and enjoying that there is nothing negative to be found behind his new persona, Fox is hired by the Langhorne Academy outside of Atlantic City, NJ, to be their new English teacher.

At the onset of FOX, we are confronted with a different situation that will end up being closely related to the Fox timeline. The Prologue includes what looks like a journal entry from one of Fox’s students pledging eternal love that they had agreed upon. We then are faced with the discovery of a car that was found in a ravine by two contractors. They also claim to see what appears to be a human figure bobbing up from the surface beside the vehicle. The area known as the Wieland wetlands is searched, and the car turns out to belong to Fox, who recently had disappeared.

The case of the missing teacher and abandoned vehicle is taken up by Detective Horace Zwender. His investigation slowly reveals the less than savory relationships between Fox and a number of his female students, specifically the seventh grader he called Little Kitten. Fox and Little Kitten shared a love of Edgar Allan Poe, particularly his seminal work "Annabel Lee," and this was the gateway that he utilized to get closer to her.

As we witness the atrocities committed by the teacher then known as Mr. Farrell and compare those to the pattern being displayed by Mr. Fox, it is no surprise that readers will be both repulsed and awed by how fate seems to repeat itself within this man’s perverse journey. Adult women in his purview quickly become turned off by him. This lends itself to the fact that his preference is for the forbidden fruit provided by young, untainted females who he can completely control and corrupt.

FOX is so much more than a modern-day LOLITA. Oates layers this extraordinarily complex tale with many surprises that keep the pages turning to the point where the length of the novel seems effortless on her part and impossible to put down. Here is another very satisfying look at the dark side of the human condition by a literary master.