literary mystery Genre
Title: The Wonder Test - a Silicon Valley thriller
Publisher: Information not available
Summary:
a gripping psychological thriller about helicopter parents, the 1%, and the dark side of suburbia
"Gripping, frightening, swift as a bullet." Dean Koontz, #1 New York Times bestselling author New York Times bestselling author Michelle Richmond introduces a tough and spirited new protagonist, FBI Agent Lina Connerly, in this exhilarating race to save Silicon Valley teens from their own parents’ ambition and greed. "A high-spirited, riveting novel..." Anita Feliicelli for San Francisco Chronicle "A gripping blend of danger and sharp social commentary on high-stakes education, the 1%, & suburban tropes." Booklist, starred review Recommended for fans of Tana French, Sue Grafton, David Baldacci, Paula Hawkins, and Gillian Flynn. An Amazon Best Book of July Bookshop.org / Amazon / Kindle / Barnes & Noble / Powells Add The Wonder Test on Goodreads "A sharply written, subtly satirical thriller." Publishers Weekly "Chilling but heartwarming." Wall Street Journal "Fluid, engaging." The New York Times Meet Lina Connerly, the FBI agent at the heart of The Wonder Test:She’s a profiler and counter-intelligence specialist, skilled at tradecraft, hand-to-hand combat, firearms, ocean swimming, fluent in French and Russian and can call in tech support from D.C. She’s a kind of new Wonder Woman. Don Noble for Alabama Public Radio
About The Wonder Test
Escaping New York City and the espionage case that made her question everything, recently widowed FBI agent Lina Connerly returns home to sell the house she has inherited in tony Greenfield, California. With her teenage son Rory, Lina hopes to reassemble her life, reevaluate her career, and find a clear way forward. Adrift and battling insomnia, she discovers that her father’s sleepy hometown has been transformed into a Silicon Valley suburb on steroids, obsessed with an annual exam called The Wonder Test.
When students at her son’s high school go missing, reappearing under mysterious circumstances on abandoned beaches, Lina must summon her strength and her investigative instincts, pushing her own ethical boundaries to the limits in order to solve the crimes. Meanwhile, an old espionage case called Red Vine keeps calling her back into the fold. While Lina struggles to balance her new role as a single mother and the complex counterintelligence puzzles she is so adept at solving, Greenfield’s shadowy dangers creep closer to her own home.
A searing view of a culture that puts the wellbeing of children at risk for advancement and prestige, and a captivating story of the lengths a mother will go for her son.
"A two-in-one winner: a gripping thriller set in a Stepford-esque California suburb, and a story of surviving loss and building family bonds. With a realistic protagonist, well-described setting, and an uber-creepy villain, it will please readers who like their stories with action and heart in equal measure.—Liz French, Library Journal "The Wonder Test features a terrific, clever, and timely concept, and Lina Connerly, a loving mother, is also exactly the kind of tough-as-nails heroine to chase down the truth. Gripping, frightening, swift as a bullet. The last hundred pages could give you whiplash." Dean Koontz, #1 New York Times bestselling author "A high-spirited, riveting novel. It combines the relentless, competitive pressure of growing up in affluent Silicon Valley suburbs with a future already coming round the bend. By blending the speculative and the familiar, Richmond makes us believe." Anita Feliicelli for San Francisco Chronicle "Fast-paced and smart, thoughtful and full of heart...combines the thrilling twists of a Sue Grafton novel and the literary complexity of the best Tana French." Amanda Ward, New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters "Like Stepford Wives but with Silicon Valley scions and their delusional dreams for their offspring, The Wonder Test blends a mystery with some tart social commentary...With the 1% gone wild and the no-nonsense FBI agent wading into crazytown to find out why, the scene is set for a sure-footed, darkly funny, semi-satirical thriller that never misses a beat." —Vannessa Cronin, Amazon Book Review, Amazon Best Books of July "The overlay of international spycraft on suburban California, whose shiny facade conceals the most heinous of sins and vanities, is surprisingly effective. The plot is sound, the action exciting, and the characters resoundingly human." Kirkus Reviews "The Wonder Test deftly explores the underbelly of San Francisco, the pressures of Silicon Valley, and the love between a mother and her teenage son. I was captivated by the novel’s simultaneously tough and tender protagonist, FBI agent Lina Connerly, and the plot twists kept me riveted until the small hours of the morning. After this, I’ll read anything Michelle Richmond writes." —Vendela Vida, author of We Run the Tides A fast-paced, moving exploration of motherhood & money, danger & deception, privilege & pretense...the perfect thinking person’s page-turner: smart, suspenseful, layered. I couldn’t put it down.” Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times bestselling author of Mother May I “The Wonder Test paints a rich, complex picture of the San Francisco Bay Area that both resonates with its natural beauty and captures the darker aspects of being the extremely privileged cyber capital of the world.”—Alice LaPlante, New York Times bestselling author of A Circle of WivesDiscussion questions for The Wonder Test
Bookshop.org / Amazon / Kindle / Barnes & Noble / Powells
Title: The Year of Fog
Publisher: Random House Books
Summary:
The New York Times bestselling literary mystery about memory, obsession, and one woman's search for a missing child.
"Profound, deeply moving, endlessly gripping; you will devour it in a weekend and turn it over to begin again.” ~Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize winning author of LessGet the book: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Bookshop.org
"I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. A missing child, a haunting neighborhood, a search for love…The Year of Fog has it all. Make a sandwich now: you won’t stop reading for hours." Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times bestselling author of TheJetsetters "Wonderful...fascinating." The San Francisco Chronicle "Mesmerizing and harrowing." London Daily Mail Add The Year of Fog to GoodreadsAbout the Book
Life changes in an instant. On a foggy San Francisco beach. In the seconds when Abby Mason—photographer, fiancée soon-to-be-stepmother—looks into her camera and commits her greatest error. Heartbreaking, uplifting, and beautifully told, here is the riveting tale of a family torn apart, of the search for the truth behind a child’s disappearance, and of one woman’s unwavering faith in the redemptive power of love. Six-year-old Emma vanished into the thick San Francisco fog. Or into the heaving Pacific. Or somewhere just beyond: to a parking lot, a stranger’s van, or a road with traffic flashing by. Devastated by guilt, haunted by her fears about becoming a stepmother, Abby refuses to believe that Emma is dead. And so she searches for clues about what happened that morning—and cannot stop the flood of memories reaching from her own childhood to illuminate that irreversible moment on the beach. Now, as the days drag into weeks, as the police lose interest and fliers fade on telephone poles, Emma’s father finds solace in religion and scientific probability—but Abby can only wander the beaches and city streets, attempting to recover the past and the little girl she lost. With her life at a crossroads, she will leave San Francisco for a country thousands of miles away. And there, by the side of another sea, on a journey that has led her to another man and into a strange subculture of wanderers and surfers, Abby will make the most astounding discovery of all—as the truth of Emma’s disappearance unravels with stunning force. A profoundly original novel of family, loss, and hope—of the choices we make and the choices made for us—The Year of Fog, now in its 31st printing, is a classic literary mystery set in San Francisco, a tour de force about memory, forgetting, love, and forgiveness.- A Kirkus Reviews Top Pick for Reading Groups
- A New York Times bestseller
- A Washington Post "A List" book
- Best Books of the Year, Library Journal & News of the World
- A San Francisco Chronicle Notable Book
- An official selection of Silicon Valley Reads
