The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

Jacob is a struggling author who hears a brilliant idea for a book from one of the students he teaches, and when he learns that the student has died without ever writing that story, he steals the idea and is catapulted into book stardom. When he starts receiving anonymous messages from someone threatening to out his theft, he is determined to figure out who else knows his shameful secret, which leads him closer to a dark and terrifying discovery.
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This story flips back and forth between the present day (as Jacob attempts to discover who is threatening to reveal his secret) and chronological chapters taken from the bestselling book that Jacob wrote. Each informs, and sheds light on, the other while revealing details about the past.

I should mention that the start is slow, so hang in there. The pace will pick up.

What I appreciate most about the book is the postmodern way in which it deals with stories: the juxtaposition of the fictional story Jacob wrote, the actual events of the past, Jacob’s past decisions and his present actions. The stories and events stack one on top of the other, revealing how bits of stories and life are continually reappropriated. Real life events become stories, and then stories change our perceptions of real life events. One informing yet changing the other, over and over again.

Due to my knowledge of a certain relatively obscure novel, I picked up on something early in the book that led me to correctly guess how it was all going to end, so the big twist at the book’s close wasn’t there for me, but it’ll most likely be there for most readers. I can’t elaborate more on that without giving away spoilers, but I will say that -- even though I knew how it would wrap up -- the end was utterly chilling.

This hits the shelves on May 11!

Thank you Celadon for the ARC!