Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This brisk, funny thriller from Hendricks (It Could Be Anyone) begins at Murderpalooza, an annual New York City conference for writers of genre fiction. When Kristin Bailey, a nominee for the coveted Thriller of the Year award, is found dead in her hotel room, the Twitterverse runs rife with speculation. Shortly after Kristin's death, four other conference attendees (who narrate the novel on a rotating basis) start receiving menacing tweets from a burner account that threatens to leak secrets that could end their personal relationships, careers, and possibly their lives. The group decides to band together for protection, but each new tweet breeds distrust and fear as the truth about Kristin's killing slowly comes to light. Hendricks's plotting is impeccable, and she knows precisely when to jump perspectives for maximum suspense. Her humor, too, is razor-sharp: she has fun taking shots at the anxieties and unchecked egos of writers at all stages of their career ("Is it really narcissism if I know I have it? Or just an overinflated ego," one character wonders). This is good fun for anyone enmeshed in the writing world or thinking of jumping in. Agent: Anne Tibbets, Donald Maas Literary. (May)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Hendricks's newest mystery, following It Could Be Anyone, goes meta to explore the fallout from the murder of a beloved author at a thriller writers' convention. After starting with a bang (actually, a stabbing,) this tightly plotted audio follows four authors attending Murderpalooza as they are targeted by an online stalker who uses the hashtag #nexttodie to reveal all their hidden secrets. An ensemble of narrators tackles the rotating points of view as the inevitable double-crosses and accusations begin. Catherine Ho is the standout as Suzanne, a newbie author convinced that she and the victim had a close friendship. Ho imbues Suzanne with the perfect aura of manic energy and a hint of menace. Emily Sutton-Smith voices midlist author Vicky as hopeful but jaded, seeing her chances to break out with her second novel slipping away. Kyle Burrow pulls double duty as Mike, a former A-list writer whose prestige has faded as his financial responsibilities have grown, and Davis, the newest publishing darling with an inflated ego. Burrow does his best to distinguish the two men's narrations, but it leaves those chapters feeling somewhat stiff and stilted. VERDICT Recommended for large collections of murder mysteries and where fiction about writers is popular.--Natalie Marshall
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Authors' dreams curdle into nightmares when murder strikes a mystery convention. Kristin Bailey, one of five nominees for Murderpalooza's Thriller of the Year, has been stabbed to death in her hotel room. Amid the digital firestorm that breaks out, two items stand out. One is a Twitter thread indicating that @MPaloozaNxt2Die is following Vicky Overton, a fellow nominee; Mike Brooks, the once-successful friend who shared a hush-hush relationship with Kristin; Suzanne Shih, the admiring stalker she'd gotten a restraining order against; and Davis Walton, a self-absorbed rising star. The other is a series of text messages to Vicky, Mike, Suzanne, and Davis making target-specific insinuations and threats, all ending with the refrain "Maybe you're next." Since all four of them have plenty of secrets to hide, their suspicions of each other are equaled by their apprehension that they're about to be unmasked. Alternating among their four points of view, Hendricks revels in their paranoia while archly revealing the differences in their narrative styles, from Vicky's relentless self-editing to Suzanne's guileless pushiness to Davis' preening narcissism to Mike's terror because his current comeback novel features a murder at a mystery convention committed by his own fictional avatar. Authors, agents, publishers, wannabes: None of them comes off nearly as well as Vicky's boyfriend, publicist Jim Russell, who's miles ahead of Pearson--no first name--the investigator hired by the Waldorf to figure out just which of these experts in homicide upped their game to the next level. Despite the obvious premise, it's a furious, riotous, meta-romp right up to the last deflating twist. A dishy balm for every aspiring author who's envied those established figures at mystery conventions. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
