This latest novel from Abbott (after
The Fever) centers on a young man's hit-and-run death shortly before a major gymnastics competition, ripping apart that sport's close-knit community. Immersed in her life as an Olympic hopeful, 15-year-old Devon Knox is in a tailspin. Her mother, Katie, goes into protective mode and attempts to salvage her family from ugly rumors involving her husband and questions about the boy's tragic end. Trying to keep her daughter's dream alive at any cost, Katie is as much a focus of this story as Devon. In true Abbott style, nothing is predictable here; the plot consistently confounds expectations with its clever twists and turns.
VERDICT Admirers of Patricia Highsmith, Laura Lippman, and Kimberly Pauley (Ask Me) are in for a treat. New readers have a backlist to explore! [See Prepub Alert, 1/26/16; see also profile of Abbott, p. 65.—Ed.]
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