Welcome to #NewTitleTuesday where we say hello to one of the many books that make their debuts on the library shelves this week.
America LOVES the bad guy. Or, at the very least, we love reading about them, watching movies or documentaries about them, or listening to podcasts about them. From Elizabeth Holmes to Frank Abagnale, Jr to the Tinder Swindler, we are fascinated by people who lull others into a false sense of security while at the same time ripping them off. With today's pick, COVER STORY by Susan Rigetti, we find a familiar tale of a con artist, but the novel approaches things from new and intriguing directions that is sure to draw in readers in this sharp, absorbing tale.
Set in the highly-competitive New York City publishing industry, the novel introduces us to Lora Ricci, a young intern who loses a college scholarship while managing to land a lowly spot at Elle Magazine, where she seems destined to languish in obscurity, eaten up by the endless pressures of the big city. Chance brings her to cross paths with Cat Wolff, confident and fashionable contributing editor, who sweeps into meetings wrapped in both sophistication and mystery - everything the talented but awkward Lora wishes she could be.
Soon the two become friends, and Cat proposes that Lora solve her money problems by working for her directly as a ghostwriter and personal assistant of sorts. Lora soon gets pulled into a world of glamour, high society, and privilege, but at the same time she gets a sordid peek behind of the scenes of that world she idolizes. She soon realizes that all is not what it seems, but she finds herself in too deep to just walk away from Cat, who she finds a powerful but dysfunctional relationship with.
The novel isn't told in a straight-ahead narrative format - it's almost an epistolary novel, with scenes and chapters consisting of emails, text messages, diary entries, and police reports. This allows Rigetti to play with expectations and adds to the ripped-from-the-headlines feel you would get from listening to a podcast or documentary as well as giving us insight into how Lora feels as she's being mentored by the predatory Cat. Part women's fiction, part coming-of-age, and part heist novel, COVER STORY is a quick, sizzling early summer read that belongs on your holds lists.