Series: The Book Series #2
Narrator: Julia Whelan
ISBN: 9781250354471
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publication Date: 10/01/2024
Format: Audiobook
My Rating: 5 Stars (ALC)
"Golden Voice Julia Whelan expertly narrates.... She paints the background detail as vividly as she does the characters."—AudioFile on The Latecomer, an Earphones Award winner
After the “insanely readable” (Stephen King) and “perfectly told” (Malcolm Gladwell) New York Times bestseller The Plot comes Jean Hanff Korelitz’s equally captivating new novel: The Sequel.
Anna Williams-Bonner has taken care of business. That is to say, she’s taken care of her husband, bestselling novelist Jacob Finch Bonner, and laid to rest those anonymous accusations of plagiarism that so tormented him. Now she is living the contented life of a literary widow, enjoying her husband’s royalty checks in perpetuity, but for the second time in her life, a work of fiction intercedes, and this time it’s her own debut novel, The Afterword. After all, how hard can it really be to write a universally lauded bestseller?
But when Anna publishes her book and indulges in her own literary acclaim, she begins to receive excerpts of a novel she never expected to see again, a novel that should no longer exist. That it does means something has gone very wrong, and someone out there knows far too much: about her late brother, her late husband, and—just possibly—Anna, herself. What does this person want and what are they prepared to do? She has come too far, and worked too hard, to lose what she values most: the sole and uncontested right to her own story. And she is, by any standard, a master storyteller.
With her signature wit and sardonic humor, Jean Hanff Korelitz gives listeners an antihero to root for while illuminating and satirizing the world of publishing in this deliciously fun and suspenseful read.
A Macmillan Audio production from Celadon Books.
THE BOOK SERIES
THE PLOT #1
THE SEQUEL #2
My Review
Jean Hanff Korelitz returns following her explosive first in the series, The Plot with #2 in The Book series, THE SEQUEL — a darkly funny, razor-sharp, and suspenseful literary/psychological thriller that will keep you glued to the pages (in my case, glued to my iphone for the exceptional audiobook).
About...
Jacob Finch Bonner was a struggling author and a writing teacher at a community college. When he stumbles upon a student's story, the plot and idea he thought could open doors for him. When he finds out the student is dead, he uses THE PLOT idea and steals it to write his bestseller. It turned into considerable success, but someone knew what he did. And they will make him pay. The suspense builds as the unknown threat looms over him.
Now he is dead, ruled as a suicide. Anna Williams-Bonner inherited his house, money, and royalty checks from the bestseller and movie rights to CRIB—inspired by her real life.
Anna decides to write her own novel, which is a big success. On book tours, she is milking the sympathy of readers and fans by playing the poor widow in her late husband's shadow after what happened he just could not take it and committed suicide.
Now she receives a suspicious note. Another manuscript is similar to her life story. What is going on? She returns to the scene of the crime, Ripley College, where her dead brother and husband path's crossed.
Who will win this wickedly delicious game of cat and mouse? Let the games begin. The thrill of the chase and the unknown outcome will keep you on the edge of your seat.
My thoughts...
Oh my, I loved THE SEQUEL!
I had not read THE PLOT first, so I stopped in the middle of THE SEQUEL to buy the audiobook and finish it. The audiobook was just as good, but THE SEQUEL was even better. If you enjoyed the first, you MUST read the second.
TWISTY, SMART, SUSPENSEFUL & CREATIVE!
Jean Hanff Korelitz is a master storyteller and THE SEQUEL is brilliantly written against the backdrop of the first book, with clever literary chapter titles.
It was fascinating to see a sociopath transform from a monster to a widow in disguise. Anna is an unreliable narrator, and I enjoyed watching her become unhinged. I love thrillers with dark humor—well done!
INTENSE and IMPRESSIVE! When dark secrets of the past are unraveling, there is no way to stop as you enter the mind of this devious literary couple! Highly entertaining and wicked fun.
Audiobook...
I highly recommend the audiobook narrated by the dazzling Julia Whalen (a favorite narrator) delivering a stellar performance! Her narration brings the characters to life and adds a new dimension to the story.
Recs...
This is for fans of The Plot and the author and those who enjoy dark humor, satires, and well-written, twisty psychological thrillers with a literary twist. Those who enjoy Kaira Rouda, Hank Phillippi Ryan, and Jeneva Rose's work will devour THE SEQUEL.
Thanks...
Thanks to Macmillan Audio and #MacAudio2024 for a gifted, advanced listening copy via NetGalley and Google Play in exchange for an honest review.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: Oct 1, 2024
Praise
“Sequels are notoriously tricky. Even the characters in The Sequel acknowledge it. “They’re never as good as the first book, are they?”… Well, this one is. By shifting the focus to Anna, Korelitz gives the novel what many sequels lack: a sense of newness. While the story grows more intricate, she remains in control. Her plot ― ha! ― is propulsive, her prose precise.”
―The New York Times
“[A] propulsive thriller... Korelitz spins Anna’s pursuit of her accuser into a satisfying hunt, threading it with her antihero’s hilariously jaundiced opinions of literary life.”
―The New Yorker
“Like Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley or Satan in Milton’s Paradise Lost, Anna is a heinous devil who may shock and offend, but never bores.”
―The Washington Post
"Ms. Korelitz’s book, mixing dark wit with coldblooded suspense, provides an unforgettable tour through the life and mind of a homicidal protagonist."
―The Wall Street Journal
"This follow-up to The Plot finds Anna Williams-Bonner basking in literary acclaim (and moola from her murdered husband’s estate) ― until pesky excerpts from a manuscript resurface and put questions of authorship, and the publishing world’s values, under the microscope."
―The New York Times Book Review, 21 Books to Read in October
“Korelitz fans will eat up this satirical, bookish suspense.”
―PEOPLE Magazine
"Through the narration of this unforgettable antiheroine, a deliciously nasty storyteller, Korelitz delivers a ripping good read."
―Esquire, Best Books of 2024
“Wicked entertainment.”
―Kirkus, STARRED
"It’s another taut and compulsively readable spellbinder from Korelitz."
―Publishers Weekly, STARRED
“This book will fly off the shelves.”
―Library Journal
“Fans of Korelitz’s literary thriller The Plot will (manuscript theft! identity theft! murder most foul! soup!) get excited for the sequel: The Sequel, in which a certain author’s widow decides to write her own book―and discovers that she’s not the only one who knows a few secrets after all. Fun.”
―LitHub, Most Anticipated Books of 2024
"[A] hilariously snippy and deliciously mean satire of the publishing world in addition to a nail-biting suspense novel."
―BookPage, STARRED
"[A] compelling and worthy sequel, another rip-roaring thriller full of very amusing scenes of delusional writers and their awful prose and many twists and turns."
―Booklist
"[A] page-turner for sure and a worthy follow up (sequel!) to the author’s fantastic thriller The Plot."
―AARP
“Chilling, creatively woven.”
―Woman's World Magazine
About the Author
Jean Hanff Korelitz is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels The Plot, The Latecomer, You Should Have Known (which aired on HBO as The Undoing, starring Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant, and Donald Sutherland), Admission (adapted as a film starring Tina Fey), The Devil and Webster, The White Rose, The Sabbathday River and A Jury of Her Peers, as well as Interference Powder, a novel for children. Her company BOOKTHEWRITER hosts Pop-Up Book Groups in which small groups of readers discuss new books with their authors. She lives in New York City with her husband, Irish poet Paul Muldoon. WEBSITE
