New suspense novels for unputdownable reading

Plus all the summer reading guides and remembering Alice Munro

Hey, readers!

It’s one of those weeks where I have a lot to say about the books I read, so let’s get right to it. And, in case you missed it, my 2024 Paperback Summer Reading Guide dropped last weekend! It’s not too late to claim yours and get oodles of my personal book recommendations for an adventurous summer TBR lineup.

This week in books.

This week I read…

• Wolf at the Table by Adam Rapp. In the last several weeks, I’ve seen a growing rumbling about this book in my corner of the internet and finally decided to pick it up since I’m always eager to try books that readers think deserve more buzz. I am surprised this book hasn’t gotten more attention and I do think there are a lot of readers who will love it who haven’t picked it up yet! My feelings are a bit more complicated, and I’m going to try to unpack them here as best as I can without spoilers. This is a family novel and a slow burning suspense story about the Larkin family. The book begins with 13-year-old Myra Larkin, the eldest of six siblings in a large Catholic family, gets a ride home from the diner with a man claiming to be Mickey Mantle. Later that night, a triple murder is committed in their neighborhood and readers are left to suspect that Myra had a near escape from something horrific. From this moment on, members of the Larkin family will brush up against many acts of tragedy and violence—though we learn that at least one of them has known this kind of brutality for many years. This book is exceedingly bleak. I rarely ascribe that label to books because for me, bleak means not that terrible things happen, but that the book seems to have a bleak view of life and human nature, which this book certainly does. The title gives away one of the most essential themes of the novel—that we are always inches away from violence, depravity, and decay. It also explores questions of nature and nurture, and what can lead someone to commit horrible acts. For the most part, I couldn’t put this book down. The growing suspense and the alternative points of view made for a real page turner. I also thought this was a brilliant, if grim, depiction of how a family can unravel, falling apart from each other and the things, like faith and shared memory, that should bind them. Even structurally, Rapp begins systematically removing perspectives from the novel so that we readers are left to wonder what became of everyone—a very effective technique that I haven’t seen before. While I wanted to resist the outlook of this book, I do think it was largely effective in achieving its thematic aims. I also think Rapp is a strong sentence level writer and, as a playwright, his use of dialogue is exceptionally well-done. Some of my major issues with this book are spoilers and I’d love to talk more with anyone who’s read it, but one critique I can share is that this book suffers from not committing to its use of alternating perspectives. While the chapters do alternate in point of view, Rapp wasn’t able to effectively capture each distinct character’s voice in those chapters. Instead, he uses a third person close narrative style that allows access to some of the character’s thoughts. While it seemed like Rapp was aiming to capture individual characters’ voices, each chapter sounds predominantly the same and the voice of the narrator remains strong. This only added to the bleak tone of the book because the narrative voice was extremely unpleasant. For example, Rapp seems to be fascinated with bodies, insisting on telling us over and over about the size of characters’ bodies (men are “heavyset” while women are “fat” with a strong negative connotation), even frequently telling us how much characters weigh (for the record, the most desirable character in the novel is 5’8” and 113 pounds 🙄). He also has a tendency to link weight gain with mental illness, frequently describing characters struggling with mental health as if their physical entities are grotesque. Perhaps this critique is largely about my own taste and sensitivities, but it also highlighted Rapp’s inability to successfully create distinct voices for each POV character as the fascinations and biases of the narrator loom over each perspective. This lack of distinction muddies the project of the novel and leads to a fairly flat reading experience, even as the brimming suspense kept me turning the pages. On the positive, Rapp was inspired to write this novel after learning more about his own mother’s life and career as a prison nurse. Myra (based on his mother Mary…see what he did there?) is certainly the most lovingly rendered and fully depicted character in the novel, and I very much enjoyed meeting her. Additionally, I lived in and near Elmira, NY where the book takes place, and reading that the characters went to my high school made for quite the experience. While my own feelings on this book are quite mixed, I do think readers who like dark family sagas, slow burning suspense novels, and literary mysteries will want this book on their radar. Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm

• The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (out 7/2). I’ve yet to see a bad review of Liz Moore’s new mystery and I’m here to add my praise to the heap. The novel opens in the summer of 1975 at Camp Emerson when a counselor wakes to find one of her campers missing. This is not just any camper either. Thirteen-year-old Barbara Van Laar is the daughter of the family who owns the land the camp sits on and the sister of a boy who went missing in these same woods fourteen years previously. I was hesitant about this book because two missing children in one family is a far-fetched premise, but having really enjoyed Moore’s Long Bright River, I decided I trusted her enough to go for it—and I loved it. This book is so intricately plotted I have no idea how Moore planned it all. She takes us through multiple timelines and perspectives, slowly unraveling the story of Barbara and that of her brother Bear. As a rare reader of mysteries, I appreciated how Moore gives readers enough clues to keep guessing without it veering into puzzle book territory. I also enjoyed the detective Moore eventually introduces, but I realized while reading that I like mysteries that aren’t primarily told through the sleuth’s POV—I want the author to unfold the story for me, and Moore did that beautifully. Though I will be curious what other readers think, I really loved the ending of this book and was blown away by how every single detail snaps into place, with only one or two plot points that seemed a little too convenient. Most of all, Moore does a fantastic job of crafting her characters and developing themes. Nearly every character is multifaceted and their stories are littered with tiny details that give the entire book texture and heart. This depth of character allows Moore to explore questions of privilege, inherited wealth, motherhood, and chosen family with care and emotion. My one complaint is that towards the end Moore spells out these themes a little too obviously. I hate being explicitly told what to take away from a book, especially when an author has already done such a wonderful job developing those ideas. But these moments were brief and they didn’t get in the way of my overall enjoyment of the book. The last thing I’ll add is that I would highly recommend picking this book up in print as I think the timelines would be really difficult to follow on audio. If you love a good, truly unputdownable summer mystery, get your preorder in for The God of the Woods. Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm

Now I’m reading…

• I’m slowly making my way through and savoring This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud.

• Three highly anticipated reads just came in on audio from my library so I need to choose! It’s either this literary mystery debut, this new title from a beloved author, or this translated work of biographical historical fiction.

Links I love.

Remembering Alice Munro. (Lit Hub)

Bookshop.org is offering 15% off books by AAPI authors with the code AAPI24. Shop here!

Read all about Reese Witherspoon’s literary empire—or just a little bit about it if you’re short on time. (NYT)

Brotherless Night won the Carol Shields Prize. (NPR)

I hated the Wicked book, but I like the musical and am excited about the film trailer. (W Magazine)

The Atlantic’s Summer Reading Guide is great! (gift link)

Eight books set on islands, curated by the author of Whale Fall. (Electric Lit)

25 easy summer dinners…these really do look easy! (The Everygirl)

Kristen Arnett serves up a new round of “Am I the Literary Asshole.” (Lit Hub)

End notes.

This week in views, listens, eats, and moments of joy.

• I have loved seeing all of the enthusiasm for my Paperback Summer Reading Guide! I’ve also been enjoying perusing other seasonal guides and lists like this one from Sarah’s Bookshelves, this from Anne Bogel, and this lovely kid lit guide from Afoma of Reading Middle Grade (a must if you have middle grade readers home with you this summer!).

• Katy O.
  was one of my first bookish Substack follows and this week she kindly featured me in her ongoing “Let’s Talk About Books” series. Katy is a great follow for thoughtful recommendations and a great resource if you’re looking for even more readers to connect with on Substack.

• I barely watch TV anymore, but I did binge the documentary McMillions on MAX while editing graphics in my PSRG. I love fraud and scandal documentaries, and this one was pretty good!

• I’m telling you with only mild embarrassment, that I have embarked on a self tanning journey and I am loving the subtle glow this lotion gives me. On a related note, every time I put on my Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen, I’m shocked by how much I can love a sunscreen.

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Happy reading!

Sara