This Is How We End Things

In the latest psychological thriller from Jacobs (after Always the First To Die), a small group of psychology graduate students are studying the science of lying, under the direction of Professor Joe Lyons, who is known for pushing academic boundaries. During a new experiment on campus involving another college student, the test goes wrong and puts everyone on edge. When one of the grad students is killed in Lyons’s office later that night, the remaining students start questioning how much they really know about each other and their professor. Everyone involved in the experiment has something to hide, including Lyons himself. As a local police detective and a campus police officer work on the murder case, secrets are brought to the surface, changing how the students view each other. Add in a heavily redacted psychological assessment found in the professor’s possession, and the investigation becomes even more complicated. When a second murder is committed, and an unexpected winter storm rolls in, shutting down the college town, the students must either band together or splinter apart. The narrative point of view switches between the students, their professor, and the investigators, resulting in a fast-paced plot with many twists and turns.