Sometimes the world is out to get you.
Meg Russo was behind the wheel when it happened. She and her husband Justin were driving their daughter Lily to Ithaca College, the family celebrating the eighteen-year-old music prodigy’s future. Then a car swerved up beside them, the young men inside it behaving bizarrely—and Meg lost control of her own vehicle. The family road trip turned into a tragedy. Justin didn’t survive the accident.
Four months later, Meg works to distract herself from her grief and guilt, reopening her small local bookstore. But soon after she returns to work, bizarre messages and visitors begin to arrive, with strangers threatening Meg and Lily in increasingly terrifying ways. They are obsessed with a young adult novel titled The Prophesy, which was published thirty years earlier. An online group of believers are convinced that it heralds the apocalypse, and social media posts link the book—and Meg’s reclusive musician father—to Satanism. These conspiracy theorists vow to seek revenge on The Prophesy’s author…Meg.
As the threats turn violent, Meg begins to suspect that Justin’s death may not have been an accident. To find answers and save her daughter, her father, and herself, Meg must get to the root of these dangerous lies—and find a way to face the believers head-on … before it’s too late.
Release Date: Jan 28, 2025
Publisher:Â HarperCollins
Imprint: William Morrow
Price: $14.99
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What should be a joyous day turns tragic. Meg and Justin Russo are bringing their daughter Lily to college when a car accident kills Justin. Meg blames the car full of young men who had been harassing them on the road and both she and Lily are having a rough time adjusting to life without Justin. They’re both trying to move on with their lives, but the harassment continues as conspiracy theorists torment Meg and her father, claiming that songs Nathan recorded as a musician and a fantasy novel that Meg wrote as a teen are the works of the devil. Now, Meg must find a way to protect her and her daughter before it’s too late.
I’ve read one short story by this author, but this is the first of her full-length novels that I’ve read. The premise of online bullying by conspiracy theorists is intriguing. I like the character of Lily and grew to like her mother Meg more and more as the book progressed, The story is told in the third person, alternation between Meg and Lily’s points-of-view which helped the reader to get to know both characters. The story gets very tense as the harassment escalates, and Meg and Lily don’t know who they can trust.
I would have enjoyed this book more if the cult and accusations of Satanism hadn’t become so over-the-top. It made what was a relevant topic hard to relate to. The story is suspenseful but is more violent than I had anticipated. I enjoyed how Meg and Lily were able to put their differences aside when it counted, but the book had more elements of a horror novel than I expected or cared for.
~ Christine
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