September 28, 2020
In 2008, Kennedy Wynn, the protagonist of this taut psychological thriller from Schultz (The Blondes), is released from prison 15 years after she pleaded guilty to the murder of her best friend, Haley Kimberson, whose body she found in the woods outside Richmond, Va., where the teenage girls were partying the night before. The state’s preponderance of evidence against Kennedy persuaded her to confess to the crime, even though she couldn’t remember what happened that night. Kennedy’s twin sister remains convinced that Kennedy really does remember, the boyfriend Kennedy and Haley once shared taunts her, and a crime show host encourages those closest to Haley to revisit the evidence. Much of Kennedy and Haley’s relationship unfolds through the writing exercises Kennedy does while in prison, leaving the impression that of all the people involved in the tragedy, Kennedy has done the most introspection, while those left on the outside remain trapped in old enmities and insecurities. The resolution, though satisfying, relies a bit much on dysfunctional family tropes, but the emotional energy of the story carries the book through. Schultz knows how to keep the reader engrossed. Agent: Ryan Harbage, Fischer-Harbage Agency.