This is a sort of bizarre genre-bending hybrid that sits between a locked room mystery and a sharp satire of the publishing industry and their authors.
Aging mystery author Faye Wader is hostess of a fan retreat on a remote island off the coast of New England. She’s driven by insecurity and has an intense rivalry with an author she calls her nemesis. The story of the weekend is told through four distinct perspectives — there’s Faye herself, her ambitious long-suffering wanna be author Jade, her agent Hal, and her editor, Merry. Everyone arrives but the event quickly spirals out of control. Faye, afraid her publisher is about to reject her latest book, is triggered by an obsessive fan who is poking holes in Faye’s origin story. She desperately tries to keep the weekend and schedule on track while her world unravels.
This is crazy with its behind the scenes glimpse into the brutal world of book publishing. Definitely you can see the decimation of the ego, Faye’s desperation, and her psychological implosion. It was a bit of a slow burn and I think it might have been meant as tongue in cheek humor, but I found it hard to empathize with Faye and her neuroses as everything starts to fall apart with multiple betrayals.
I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The full cast recording featured four different narrators: Gabra Zackman, Carol Monda, Joel Froomkin, and Emily Lawrence. I thought they did a decent job and I always enjoy lots of different voices for characters but I definitely did not like the voice of Jade Smythe who was voiced by Gabra Zackman. Her voice just grated. Other than that, the audio provided a nice immersive reading experience.
This is a standalone and is not part of any series.
Genre and tags: publishing industry, author weekend, fans, editors, agents, murder, competition
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