June 20, 2011
Cosmo editor-in-chief White's proseâlike a brisk walk through a tree-lined campus in autumnâis perfectly suited to the setting and tone of this stand-alone mystery thriller about mean girl games run amok. Disgraced celebrity tell-all author Phoebe Hall wants nothing more than to leave Manhattan for the peaceful asylum of Lyle College in rural Pennsylvania, where Lyle's president and her best friend from boarding school, Glenda Johns, has offered her a teaching job. But when Glenda asks Phoebe to look into rumors of a secret sorority known as the Sixes and a possible link to a missing coed, the idea of asylum takes on an ominously different meaning. White (Hush) ratchets up the chills as Phoebe starts to find little things, like six apples, left at her house that she takes to be attempts to frighten her. Undaunted, Phoebe persists in her investigation. Great pacing and plausible characterization with only a smidgen of forgivable contrivance make this a worthy end-of-summer beach read. Author tour.
October 31, 2011
White’s latest suspense novel finds celebrity biographer Phoebe Hall—who is seeking solace from New York City, a broken romance, and a plagiarism charge—teaching at Pennsylvania’s Lyle College, a school run by Phoebe’s former roommate, Glenda Jones. But not all is well at Lyle: a coed recently drowned in a nearby lake, a serial killer may be on the loose, and the campus is plagued by a secret society of malevolent girls called the Sixes. And things only get more complicated when Glenda asks Phoebe to investigate the secret group. Jen Cohn’s narration is energetic and brisk. Except for moments of high tension, she eschews melodrama in favor of straightforward presentation. The result is an audio production that, matching the original text, entertains but seldom thrills. A Harper hardcover and consumer digital download from HarperAudio.