The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Mrs. Everything and In Her Shoes masterfully combines Stephen King with Donna Tartt, plus a twist of Shirley Jackson, in this timely tale that spikes horror with humor and asks whose stories matterâand who gets to decide.
Laurel Spellman is the most respected and feared literary critic in America. For yearsâmore than she wants to admitâsheâs written acid-etched reviews, gleefully goring sacred cows, anointing Great American Novelists, keeping the mob of scribbling authors in their place while enjoying all the perks of her position.
She doesnât want to lose her spot on top of the literary worldânot any more than she wants to replace her decades-old cartoon head shot with a new photograph. But when Laurel ends up taking a group of bibliophiles on a tour of literary Paris, she meets her worst nightmare: an eager debut author of commercial fiction named Tess Kravitz.
Laurel despises books like Tessâs: easy reads with happy endings, where the fat girl finds true love, or happiness through yoga. She canât stand Tess herself, a chirpy, chunky blond with a tote bag full of a seemingly inexhaustible supply of her book, The Comfort Diet. But Tess is undeterred by Laurelâs scorn. She makes it clear that sheâll do anythingâabsolutely anythingâto get her book on Laurelâs radar.
As author and critic play cat and mouse in Paris, ominous tokens appear, dark secrets are revealed, and Laurel finds herself haunted by her history and tormented by Tessâs book. The line between reality and fantasy begins to blur in a clash between an aging critic who will do anything to hold on to what she has, and a desperate author, who will stop at nothing to get what she wants.