A Campus on Fire

DEBUT Tess Azar’s articles in the campus newspaper attract attention. Fearless and independent, she’s a comer. Now she’s pursuing two stories. First is the death by suicide of Jack, prize student in acclaimed writer Sylvia Lobo’s highly selective writing workshop. Every one of his short stories saw publication, and he had just finished his first novel. What led him to take his life? Second is the emergence of a charismatic right-wing demagogue, Richard, who hides behind words but eggs on his acolytes to more extreme action. Tess interviews Rose, foremost in the writing group after Jack’s death. Soon they’re in bed together, inseparable. Rose introduces Tess to Lobo, and they work to win her over to their side. But Rose’s body is covered in bruises, and more details emerge of the writing group’s cultlike behavior—and even worse happenings at private gatherings. As Richard’s followers explode into violence, Tess struggles to maintain her independence as an observer. The book ends at the launch for Jack’s posthumous novel. Tess moderates it, and Rose and Lobo speak. It’s a love fest for unity. And that is truly disturbing.