All the Broken People

April 15, 2020
On the run from her abusive boyfriend, Lucy King holes up in Woodstock, New York. Her new neighbors, John and Vera, welcome her with open arms. But are they too good to be true? In her first non-YA novel, Konen proves herself a master of weaving webs that slowly contract, strangling characters in the threads. Within minutes of meeting Vera, Lucy is warned off the couple by Maggie, who lives on the other side of Lucy's cottage. She cautions Lucy that Vera Abernathy and John Nolan are charming but only care about themselves. But after Lucy's hidden all of her valuables under the floorboards beneath her bed and closely documented everything in the cabin, determined not to let her violent boyfriend, Davis, gaslight her ever again, she drops by her neighbors' for dinner anyway. Soon, Vera, John, and Lucy are inseparable, their friendship fueled by alcohol and half-revealed secrets: Lucy confesses to Davis' abuse but holds back the details of his surveillance; Vera alludes to unfriendly relations in town but won't say why. And as the weeks progress, Lucy finds herself emotionally dependent on Vera and strongly desiring to kiss John. Yet questions persist: Why did their previous neighbor, Rachel, move out? Why are the townspeople leaving threatening notes in their mailbox and graffiti on their gallery downtown? Who is sneaking into Lucy's cottage, leaving faucets running and mementoes rearranged? As tensions rise, Vera and John tell Lucy about their plan to escape the hostilities by faking a death, and Lucy seizes the opportunity to help. But when someone turns up actually murdered, Lucy has to solve the mystery before she is arrested and blamed herself. A swift, compelling thriller with unexpected swoops and swerves.

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April 27, 2020
Freelance writer Lucy King’s move from Brooklyn to Woodstock, N.Y., to escape an abusive relationship jump-starts YA author Konen’s solid first adult novel (after Love and Other Train Wrecks). Accompanied only by her dog, Lucy believes she can live anonymously in the idyllic-sounding town. Still, she fears each day that her controlling boyfriend, Davis Gutman, will find her. Cut off from her friends and with her parents dead, lonely Lucy becomes consumed by her charming next-door neighbors, artist John Nolan and his wife, Vera Abernathy, who manages their gallery in town. But a scandal involving a teenage girl has made the couple outcasts. The appealing Lucy, whose vulnerability makes her blind to John and Vera's flaws, agrees to help them fake John’s death so they can start afresh. But the plan quickly goes awry. Believable twists imbue the narrative’s urgency as each character’s secrets are spilled and as Lucy’s past catches up with her. Lucy’s credible fears about Davis elicit empathy. Konen should win a new set of fans with this domestic thriller. Agent: Elisabeth Weed, Book Group.

May 15, 2020
Woodstock, New York, began as a quiet refuge for freethinkers, but a certain 1969 music festival transformed it into an extremely popular destination. It seems a highly unlikely place to try to hide, but that's what Lucy King does. She is on the run from her abusive lover, Davis, back in Brooklyn. Spotted by Davis' sister at a bar in town, Lucy knows he will soon follow. That, however, turns out to be the least of her worries. Lucy's neighbors, Vera and John, who have been her principal means of emotional support, convince her to help fake John's death, which they believe to be the only way to resolve their problems. In return, they will take her with them, somewhere Davis will never find her. When John is found actually dead in his art studio, she becomes a suspect. A steady narrative draws the reader into Lucy's anxiety, and what might seem an implausible story is made believable by intricate plotting, culminating in a didn't-see-that-coming conclusion. Perfect for millennial fans of domestic thrillers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

June 26, 2020

Konen, known for her YA romances (Love and Other Train Wrecks), takes a sharp turn with her first psychological thriller for adults; one hopes there will be more. Lucy King has left Brooklyn and her abusive boyfriend and is hiding out with her dog in the small, upstate town of Woodstock, NY. Her new neighbors, Vera and John, invite her to dinner, but another neighbor offers vague warnings about them. Nevertheless, Lucy goes and an all-consuming friendship is formed, even after Lucy hears the terrible rumors about John and a local teenager. Lucy has no one; her parents are dead, and her best friend was the abusive boyfriend's sister, so she clings to this couple. John and Vera decide the only way they can escape the repercussions of scandal is by faking John's death, and they enlist Lucy's help. But when John is murdered, everything changes. VERDICT The main protagonist is an unreliable narrator, but then all the characters are unreliable, making this a fast-paced, unputdownable roller-coaster of a read sure to appeal to fans of Gillian Flynn or Paula Hawkins.--Stacy Alesi, Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Lib., Lynn Univ., Boca Raton, FL

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