Hallie Elizabeth Newton
“An astonishing debut as mesmerizing as it is unnerving.” —Joyce Carol Oates
“A tale of suspense, a statement, a cry for help, and a delicious tour-de-force.” —Nell Zink
New York City, 2014. Agnes Maurer seeks a willing murderer and wonders what she should wear. Candidates include: an icy magazine editor with a special cutlery set; an eccentric designer from her past; and Agnes’s cruel novelist boyfriend. As she Ubers from Upper East Side shopping to Craigslist gun deals, Agnes’ desperation becomes an exhibition, a swan song of millennial sexuality as internalized abuse and consummate style, with the knob righty-tightened all the way.
Newton’s prose is disturbingly fun, relentless, shattering. A crafted study of existential despair that culminates in a worthy, intense denouement.
