Our kind of game A novel

Paula and Julie Waits had a tough childhood with a father who abused them and their mother. Still, it was a shock when their mother said he had "moved on" and died. A series of similarly abusive boyfriends followed, and their mom also helped them "move on" after she took their money. The girls were eventually sucked into their mom's schemes, realizing she would do anything to protect them and secure their future. Paula became a cop, while Julie changed her identity, got a scholarship to UCLA, and studied law. She married Tom, they had two kids, and Julie (now called Stella) became a stay-at-home mom. Blonde, slim, pretty, rich--no one could have guessed that Stella had such a traumatic childhood. Eventually, Stella begins to feel unappreciated, bored, and angry, suspecting Tom is having an affair. The reality is even worse-- Stella's past has caught up with her, but like her mother, she'll do anything to keep her kids safe. This riveting, suspenseful, nightmarish debut is filled with dark twists as it highlights the simmering resentment of women who feel undervalued--and the lengths they'll go to for their children.

Former attorney Copeland stuns with this audacious debut thriller about the extremes to which some people will go to protect the ones they love. In 2019, Stella Parker is dissatisfied with the life she's built for herself in the D.C. suburbs, having traded her law career for marriage and motherhood. Her ennui turns to terror after her neighbor, Gwen, drops her phone in Stella's driveway while limping down the block one evening. When Stella picks it up, she sees messages suggesting Gwen may know one of her long-buried secrets. In a parallel story line set in 1987, high schooler Julie Waits hopes that making the cheerleading squad will provide a distraction from her mother's string of abusive relationships and the chaos that ensues whenever she decides to end them. Gradually, Copeland teases out the connections between Stella and Julie and unveils the grisly truth about Julie's mother. With expertly timed reveals and plenty of thorny insights into the causes and consequences of gender-based violence, this first-rate suspense novel thrills and provokes in equal measure. It's a must-read. Agent: Christopher Schelling, Selectric Artists. (July)