El Dorado Drive
- Judith D Collins
- May 22
- 4 min read
By: Megan Abbott
Narrator: Brittany Pressley
Penguin Audio
ISBN: 9780593084960
Publisher: PENGUIN GROUP Putnam
G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: 06/24/2025
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Turnout comes a simmering, atmospheric novel of friendship and betrayal, following a women-led pyramid scheme in suburban Detroit.
"Abbott is a superstar of the suspense genre." —NPR
All I want is to be innocent again. But that's not how it works. Especially not after the Wheel.
When Harper moves in with her sister Pam, she's surprised to find Pam doing so well financially after her messy divorce. After all, Pam's ex-husband wiped their bank accounts, even stole from their kids. But Pam managed to find her way back. Thanks to the Wheel...
Twice a month, the women of the Wheel meet. New members bring cash to the party that is pooled together and then gifted to one lucky member. It's all about giving back. Lifting each other up. As women should. As they must.
But when Harper is invited, with the promise of an end to her financial burdens, the sisters inadvertently unleash a darkness lurking within the group. If they're not careful, it might just get them killed.
Megan Abbott turns her keen eye toward women and money in El Dorado Drive, a riveting story about greed, power, and vulnerability, and how desperation draws out our most destructive impulses.
Praise
"As surprising and electrifying as a summer storm, El Dorado Drive deftly examines hope, need, greed and the complicated angles of sisterhood. It is suspenseful, beautifully written and, quite simply, exquisite."
—Gillian Flynn, New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl
“Tense, chilling and beautifully written, El Dorado Drive is an absolute knockout.”
—Harlan Coben, New York Times bestselling author of Think Twice
"El Dorado Drive is a dizzying ephemeral journey where Megan Abbott confirms what many of us already knew. She is one the finest writers to ever put pen to paper in the crime genre. A rare tour de force.”
—S.A. Cosby, New York Times bestselling author of My Darkest Prayer
“[Abbott] effortlessly excels at exploring the complexities of women’s relationships with suspenseful, atmospheric storytelling. Unsettling and darkly clever.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
"Abbott strikes gold again with this taut, suspenseful story . . . Another top-flight thriller from a genre master." —Booklist
“[A] nerve-shredding thriller. . . Abbott probes the minefield of sisterhood to harrowing effect, using staccato prose to amplify the inherent apprehension and anxiety of the siblings’ relationships. The result is a tense and twisty delight.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Abbott is the queen of charged atmospheres, where a restrained surface often hides a torrent of deception.”
—Kirkus
“Abbott + women + pyramid scheme = winner, winner, chicken dinner.”
—Los Angeles Times
“Abbott is one of the reigning queens of suspense and her latest promises to be another dark knockout.”
—Lit Hub
“Megan is the reigning queen of feminist neo-noir that’s equal parts brainy and suspenseful, and every single time she publishes a new novel it’s an occasion.”
—The Maris Review
“Layer by magnetic layer, Megan Abbott reveals the story of a family coming undone beneath the paralyzing weight of material pressures. Abbott is a skilled storyteller and El Dorado Drive is a smart, twisty, and riveting family drama.”
—Karin Slaughter, #1 International and New York Times bestselling author of This is Why We Lied
“El Dorado Drive is a silky devious ride. It's suspenseful as all hell but also beautifully observed and filled with trenchant observations about the price of greed and the debilitating weight of modern womanhood.”
—Dennis Lehane, New York Times bestselling author of Small Mercies
“Sharp, shocking, beautiful and brilliant. El Dorado Drive is a thrilling, clever and powerful story of family, class, money and morality. Megan Abbott is a phenomenal storyteller.”
—Chris Whitaker, author of All the Colors of the Dark
About the Author
Megan Abbott is the Edgar-winning author of the novels Beware the Woman, The Turnout, Give Me Your Hand, You Will Know Me, The Fever, Dare Me, The End of Everything, Bury Me Deep, Queenpin, The Song Is You and Die a Little.
Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Salon, the Guardian, Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times Magazine, and The Believer. Her stories have appeared in multiple collections, including the Best American Mystery Stories of 2014 and 2016.
Her work has won or been nominated for the CWA Steel Dagger, the International Thriller Writers Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and five Edgar awards. Formerly a staff writer on HBO's David Simon show, The Deuce, she is now co-creator, executive producer and show-runner of Dare Me, based upon her novel, for the USA Network and, internationally, Netflix.
Born in the Detroit area, she graduated from the University of Michigan and received her Ph.D. in English and American literature from New York University. She has taught at NYU, the State University of New York and the New School University. In 2013-14, she served as the John Grisham Writer in Residence at Ole Miss.
She is also the author of a nonfiction book, The Street Was Mine: White Masculinity in Hardboiled Fiction and Film Noir, and the editor of A Hell of a Woman, an anthology of female crime fiction. She has been nominated for many awards, including three Edgar Awards, Hammett Prize, the Shirley Jackson Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Folio Prize.
