8.01.2024

finished reading

This is a modern noir set in Hollywood.  But technology is not a major part of the plot, although social media is part of the backstory.  I was fascinated by the details of life in Hollywood--from travel routes to restaurants to people-watching.  I didn't connect with either Mae Pruitt or Chris as people, I bought their chemistry and their relationship.

There's a lot going on in this book.  Not only are they trying to solve the murder of Mae's mentor and boss, but they stumble on a conspiracy theory-esque #MeToo plot.  There are some standard tropes but they weren't stale or boring--the ditzy young ingenue, the morally reprehensible, entitled mega-millionaire studio exec, corrupt cops, etc.  The audio narration is very well-done.

From the publisher:
Welcome to Mae Pruett’s Los Angeles, where  “Nobody talks. But everybody whispers.”  As a “black-bag” publicist tasked not with letting the good news out but keeping the bad news in, Mae works for one of LA’s most powerful and sought-after crisis PR firms, at the center of a sprawling web of lawyers, PR flaks, and private security firms she calls “The Beast.” They protect the rich and powerful and depraved by any means necessary. 
 
After her boss is gunned down in front of the Beverly Hills Hotel in a random attack, Mae takes it upon herself to investigate and runs headfirst into The Beast’s lawless machinations and the twisted systems it exists to perpetuate. It takes her on a roving neon joyride through a Los Angeles full of influencers pumped full of pills and fillers; sprawling mansions footsteps away from sprawling homeless encampments; crooked cops and mysterious wrecking crews in the middle of the night.
 
Edgar Award-winner Jordan Harper’s EVERYBODY KNOWS is addicting and alarming, a “juggernaut of a novel” and “an absolute tour de force.” It is what the crime novel can achieve in the modern age: portray the human lives at the center of vast American landscapes, and make us thrill at their attempts to face impossible odds.

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