The Queen

High schoolers Margaret and Charity have been best friends since elementary school, but as their senior year comes to a close, they have drifted apart. Then Charity goes missing, as have three boys who may have raped her. When a mysterious cell phone shows up on Margaret’s doorstep, she is led, via texts, on a dangerous scavenger hunt to piece together the truth about what happened to Charity. The trail goes back 20 years and involves a billionaire with a bug obsession. This fast-paced and suspenseful story, featuring genetically altered wasps, is one of the most entertaining novels readers will encounter this year. However, it is also disturbing on every level, from the graphically vivid and scientifically realistic body horror, to the unsettlingly frank discussions of class and women’s friendships, to the discussions about the ethics of gene-altering experiments. Readers will be engulfed by the story from the moment they open the book, while the echoing hum of what they just experienced will buzz around in their heads long after they finish.