Review by Booklist Review
The aptly titled follow-up to The Plot (2021) focuses on Anna Williams Bonner, now the widow of the much-lauded author, Jacob Finch Bonner. Anna decides to pen her own novel, largely based on the story she shared with the world about how Jacob died, which she works on at writing retreats described in cringe-inducing and hilarious detail. The Afterword manages to be both critically acclaimed and a best-seller, but mysterious excerpts of the novel cribbed by her late husband and originally penned by her late brother, start to arrive in her mail, hinting that she has left a loose end somewhere and that her many lies, deceptions, and crimes will perhaps be exposed. While Anna is a deeply unsympathetic antihero, Korelitz so expertly depicts how Anna is convinced of her own righteousness and that her being deeply wronged justifies heinous acts that Anna's flimsy justifications are almost convincing. Korelitz presents a compelling and worthy sequel, another rip-roaring thriller full of very amusing scenes of delusional writers and their awful prose and many twists and turns.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
After the death of her novelist husband, Anna Williams-Bonner fights to protect his legacy--and hers--in Korelitz's powerhouse sequel to The Plot. Pushed by the agent she inherited from her late husband, Jacob Bonner, to write a book inspired by Jacob's death, Anna publishes a weepy debut novel called The Afterword. It's a hit, but at a book signing, she receives an anonymous note indicating someone knows about the dirty truths her manuscript is masking. Certain she's being stalked, Anna turns the tables and begins to pursue her pursuers, working tirelessly to keep her past hidden as the death toll mounts. Korelitz makes hay with her satirical depiction of the publishing industry's ego parade--untended slush piles play a pivotal role--and she brilliantly ushers the action toward a shocking conclusion. She also offers satisfying glimpses into what makes Anna tick, placing her alongside Tom Ripley in the pantheon of amoral antiheroes. It's another taut and compulsively readable spellbinder from Korelitz. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, WME. (Oct.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A less-than-grief-stricken widow follows in her novelist husband's bestselling footsteps but finds that someone knows more about her than is safe--for either of them. Anna Williams-Bonner has no burning literary vocation, and she certainly has no need to bury herself in work to recover from her spouse's tragic supposed suicide. But an idle remark while she's on the road promoting Jacob Finch Bonner's posthumously published final work prompts her powerhouse agent--the one she inherited along with Jacob's royalty checks--to get her into an artists' colony; Anna, whose years working on a Seattle radio show prepping a lazy boss for author interviews have given her zero respect for the literary world, figures it can't be all that hard to produce autobiographical fiction exploiting her alleged bereavement. Readers ofThe Plot (2021) already know that Anna is not at all what she seems, and this successor volume's deliciously nasty narration (third-person, but from Anna's point of view) creepily depicts the inner life of a perennially aggrieved, viciously vindictive, and alarming resourceful sociopath. At a signing for her novel, a Post-it note stuck inside one copy of the book warns Anna that someone knows about the past she has worked assiduously to bury. Tracking down this threat to her new prosperity and status requires Anna to revisit that past, and as she does readers learn in grim detail about the long trail of misdeeds she's left behind her. One wonderfully ironic plot twist plays on the publishing world's infamous slush piles, unsolicited manuscripts that molder unread for years in editorial offices; another reveals a rare misstep by Anna. A slew of barbed characterizations--there are no good guys here--add to the mean-spirited fun. The conclusion suggests that Korelitz may decide to emulate Patricia Highsmith and keep her antisocial protagonist around for more enjoyably amoral outings. Wicked entertainment. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
