May 1, 2021
The story begins in a small Oklahoma town in 1994 when Samantha (""Sam"") is 17, the stepdaughter of Isaac and stepsister of his son, Eric, who is 15. Flash-forward to Oklahoma City in 2009 and the discovery, submerged in a pond, of a truck that belonged to Isaac, who has been missing for 15 years. His skeletal, obviously murdered remains are then found in the woods near the family farm. The novel moves backward and forward between 2009 and 1994 as readers discover that the teenage Sam and Eric have secretly been intimate and also that, disturbingly, Isaac has raped Sam, and she is then having sex with him, too, Sam being a masochist and Isaac a sadist who is happy to give her the pain she desires. Back to 2009 and Eric's arrest for Isaac's murder; readers know he is innocent, but, then, who is the murderer? Levy's debut novel is a midnight exercise in noir fiction that is carefully executed and fascinating in a reptilian way. Color it a dark success.
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May 24, 2021
In 2009, 31-year-old Samantha Mayfair, the protagonist of Levy’s solid if distressing debut, has a responsible job and a home in a pleasant Oklahoma City neighborhood. Then her stepbrother, Eric Walker, whom she hasn’t seen in years, walks into the bank where she works. Traumatic memories of her stepfather, Isaac Walker, and the events leading up to his disappearance in 1994 come flooding back. She later learns from police detective Chad Eastman that Isaac’s body has recently been found buried near her childhood home. Eastman says he’s pegged Eric as the killer, but Samantha vows to prove her stepbrother innocent. That every person connected to Isaac has shameful secrets they would prefer to keep hidden and valid motives for killing him hampers the police investigation. Carefully calibrated flashbacks to 1994 reveal some disturbing family relationships. Clean prose is a plus, but readers should be prepared for masochism, incest, and sexual abuse of more than one minor. This won’t be to the taste of every mystery fan. Agent: Sandy Lu, Book Wyrm Literary.