June 13, 2022
In this fiendishly entertaining psychological thriller from British author Monks Takhar (Precious You), bank cashier Rose O’Connell is determined to do whatever it takes to ensure her little boy, Charlie, has all the advantages lost to her growing up as the daughter and occasional accomplice of a career con man, and in her now gentrified beyond recognition old stomping grounds that can mean only one thing: Charlie’s admission to the Woolf Academy. And if entrée to the officially free but famously exclusive school weren’t enough of a stretch for the wife of a plumber, Rose aims to shoot the moon: penetrating its charmed inner circle. She gets the opportunity to do so after the suspicious death of one member of that circle creates a vacancy. When against all odds Rose manages to catch the eye of queen bee Amala Kaur, despite uniformly cold shoulders from Amala’s acolytes, readers will puzzle over the nature of the dazzling Amala’s game. The surprising answers, deeply rooted in Rose’s and Amala’s histories, help make for a suspenseful and unsettling cautionary tale. Monks Takhar remains a writer to watch. Agent: Allison Hunter, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc.