May 1, 2023
When she learns that a violent attack at a Florida State University sorority has left two women dead and two badly injured, Tina Cannon reaches out to the sorority president, sensing a connection to her friend Ruth's disappearance in Seattle. And that connection is a smooth-talking, Ted Bundy--like character being called the All-American Sex Killer. The New York Times best-selling Knoll (Luckiest Girl Alive) intends to demythologize her killer, portraying him an unremarkable man built up by the media--certainly nothing like the "bright young women" whose lives he took. Prepub Alert.
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Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
August 1, 2023
This thinly veiled fictionalization of Ted Bundy's attack on a Florida State University sorority begins with the horror rather than making it the climax. As president of her sorority, Pamela Schumacher is used to staying up late to deal with paperwork while her sisters are out partying. The night of Jan. 15, 1978, is no different. Jarred awake at 3 a.m. after having fallen asleep with her clothes on, she hears running footsteps and sees a man heading for the front door. He can't see her in the shadows--a fact that turns out to save her life, rendering her the only eyewitness to a horrible crime and a notorious criminal, "a man who murdered thirty-five women and escaped prison twice." The novel goes on to follow several alternating timelines: From Pamela's perspective, it builds from the day of the sorority murders and also follows her return trip to Tallahassee more than 30 years later in response to a mysterious letter. These chapters are interspersed with the 1974 story of Ruth Wachowsky, believed by her girlfriend, Tina Cannon, to have been one of the killer's earlier victims. Knoll makes an interesting--and powerful--choice not to name Bundy at any point; Pamela asserts that she "vowed to stop using [his name]" because "there isn't anything exceptionally clever" about him. Choosing not to name him deflates the myth of the monster, of the charmer, of the criminal genius that people often consider Bundy to be. As the title indicates, this novel belongs to the women: the ones killed because they were too kind to reject an "injured" man asking for help; the ones who lost people they loved; the ones who ultimately had to look him in the eye and not let it destroy their lives. There are twin threads of mystery that lead readers through the maze: the rumor of a suppressed confession tape and Ruth's story. But in the end, it's the latter that's so much more important than the former. In this world of true-crime mania, Knoll knows that every choice--and every name--matters. A stunning, engaging subversion of the Bundy myth--and the true-crime genre.
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Starred review from August 21, 2023
In this stunning serial killer thriller, bestseller Knoll (Luckiest Girl Alive) uses echoes of Ted Bundy’s real-life crimes to underline potent themes of misogyny and survivor’s guilt. In January 1978, Florida State University student Pamela Schumacher becomes the sole witness when a killer invades her sorority house, murdering two of her friends and disfiguring two others. The killings bring Pamela into contact with Tina Cannon, who’s convinced the same man murdered her friend Ruth Wachowsky four years earlier in Seattle. Together, Pamela and Tina spend decades digging up evidence that might link the crimes and find justice for their slain friends. Knoll seamlessly moves from the night of the murders and their immediate aftermath to 2021, when the man eventually dubbed the All-American Sex Killer faces his final trial. Without delving into prurient clichés, she excavates the emotional toll the murders take on Pamela and Tina, credibly tracing the ways such traumas can shape entire lives. By focusing on the women affected by her Ted Bundy stand-in instead of the nuances of his criminal psychology, Knoll movingly reframes an American obsession without stripping it of its intrigue. The results are masterful. Agent: Alyssa Reuben, Paradigm.
Starred review from August 1, 2023
As the only witness to the January 1978 break-in at their Florida State University sorority house, chapter president Pamela Schumacher is confident in her ability to identify the man responsible for the brutal murders of two sorority sisters and the severe beating of two others. However, in the chaos of that night, she briefly mistook the intruder for her sorority sister's on-again, off-again boyfriend, Roger, before realizing that she had never seen the man before. When she unintentionally mentions this initial misidentification of the man to the police, they focus their attention on Roger, allowing the true perpetrator to strike again. Growing increasingly frustrated, Pamela feels that no one is taking her seriously until she encounters Martina Cannon, who has her own tale of loss from Washington State and a description of the killer that perfectly matches Pamela's recollection. The two women join forces to ensure that justice is served for their loved ones. VERDICT Based on true events surrounding the Ted Bundy murders, this fictionalized account from the author of Luckiest Girl Alive is an unsettling and thrilling page-turner. Though readers will know the history, Knoll's haunting, must-read account will captivate them until the end.--Lucinda Ward
Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from July 1, 2023
History always preserves the names of serial killers, but rarely those of their victims, an oversight Knoll corrects in her brilliant, blistering third novel, which brings together two women who have their lives upended by the All-American Sex Killer (based on Ted Bundy) in the 1970s. Serious, studious Pamela Schumacher is traumatized when a man enters her sorority house in the middle of the night and brutally maims two of her sorority sisters and kills two others, including her best friend, Denise. Pamela sees the man on his way out, briefly mistaking him for Denise's onand-off again boyfriend. Convincing the police that her confusion was momentary proves a challenge, but Pamela soon finds an ally in the glamorous Tina Cannon, who has traveled to Florida from Seattle because she believes the man who killed Pamela's sorority sisters is the man responsible for the death of her friend Ruth. The police have little interest in Tina because her relationship with Ruth actually went far beyond friendship. Writing with pulsepounding tension and urgency, Knoll expertly conjures an atmosphere of dread and anxiety while paying tribute to all the bright young women whose lives are cut short or forever changed by the craven actions of sociopaths. An utterly absorbing, disturbing, and absolutely essential read.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: With her huge hit, Luckiest Girl Alive, made into a major motion picture, Knoll's newest is buzz-bait.
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