October 1, 2024
In bestselling Burke's (Find Me) latest, three women, friends since childhood, reunite for the first time in years to enjoy a few days of fun in the Hamptons. When a drunken prank goes horribly wrong and the police get involved, their friendship will be tested. Prepub Alert.
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Starred review from November 15, 2024
A holiday in the Hamptons for three friends turns into an engrossing tale of murder. Typically, the worst aftereffects of a girls' weekend are nasty hangovers and swollen credit cards. But in this gripping thriller, much darker things happen. When May Hanover--a Chinese American assistant district attorney turned law professor in New York--agrees to spend a long weekend with two old friends in East Hampton, it's a welcome reunion, and for May, a break from prepping for the next semester while planning her wedding to fiance Josh. The trio first met about 15 years ago at an arts camp, and May has stayed in touch with Lauren Berry, an accomplished Black classical musician. But until recently, she hadn't heard from Kelsey Ellis, the golden-blond daughter of a rich man, since Kelsey married a rising star chef who was subsequently murdered--a death that many online true-crime aficionados attribute to her. That's not the only scandal in the trio's baggage: Lauren's longtime relationship with a married oilman got her fired from a plum job when it was exposed. And the usually rational May was the subject of a humiliating viral video of her threatening to call the police after a confrontation with a Black man on the subway. But this weekend is about leaving those troubles, and their long tail on the internet, behind. When the women drive to Sag Harbor to barhop, another car steals the parking space they were waiting for, and, among themselves, they make fun of the attractive couple in it. But Kelsey goes a little further, tucking a note on a cocktail napkin under the windshield wiper: "He's cheating. He always does." It seems like a prank, but then a tourist is reported missing who looks like the handsome driver. Questions are raised and tempers flare among the friends; in the midst of it, Kelsey's stepbrother Nate arrives. He's cool and charming--and May's ex-boyfriend. As the police start asking questions, May's compulsion to investigate kicks in, although she's digging into her own past, along with those of the friends she thought she knew. Burke builds an intricate structure of secrets layered within secrets, revealed for maximum suspense. The complex friendship among three flawed but engaging characters anchors this satisfying psychological thriller.
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November 18, 2024
A prank goes wrong in this disappointing standalone from bestseller Burke (Find Me). Law professor May Hanover jumps at the opportunity to meet her two best friends, commercial real estate heiress Kelsey Ellis and renowned musician Lauren Berry, for a weekend getaway in the Hamptons. Frustrated by a couple who steals their parking space at a restaurant, the women write a cryptic note (“He’s cheating. He always does”) on a napkin and leave it on the strangers’ car. On the last day of their trip, they learn that David Smith, the driver of the car, has gone missing. When the NYPD show up at May’s building in Manhattan, she attempts to clear the air, but the police remain suspicious—owing, in part, to each woman’s involvement in heavily publicized scandals: Lauren has been engaged in a decades-long affair with a married Texas oilman; May suffered a breakdown on a New York City subway platform that went viral; and Kelsey’s estranged husband was gunned down five years earlier by an unknown killer. Patient readers will enjoy the clever conclusion, but each woman’s backstory is given so much space that it significantly slackens the narrative tension, and there’s no one to root for among the unpleasant cast. Burke has done better. Agent: Sloan Harris, CAA. (Jan.)Correction: A previous version of this review quoted the wrong note written by the main characters.
December 1, 2024
In her new thriller, perennial best-seller Burke introduces the Cancel Crew, a trio of friends who are no strangers to scandal, reconnecting on a trip to the Hamptons. May, a half-Chinese, half-white lawyer, got labeled the "Asian DA Karen" after a video of her blaming a Black man for a white man's racist attack went viral. Lauren, a gifted Black musician, has been lambasted for her ongoing affair with an older white male mogul. Kelsey, a wealthy white woman, became a murder suspect after her estranged husband was shot dead. Now the three women are hoping for a fun, drama-free getaway, but when Kelsey impulsively leaves a note on the car of a couple who stole their parking space, implying that the man is cheating, trouble once again finds them when the man, David Smith, goes missing. The police quickly zero in on the trio, and their interest grows exponentially when it's revealed one of the three had a connection to David. Readers will swiftly turn the pages of Burke's latest twisty and frothy thriller.
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