Newton, Hallie Elizabeth
9781639738564, 1639738568
Hardcover with dust jacket
 
A day-in-the-life debut novel about a fading socialite on the hunt for someone to kill her before her next SoulCycle class.
 
"An astonishing debut as mesmerizing as it is unnerving." —Joyce Carol Oates

"A tale of suspense, a statement, a cry for help, and a delicious tour-de-force.” —Nell Zink

New York City, 2014. Agnes Maurer seeks a willing murderer and wonders what she should wear. Candidates include: an icy magazine editor with a special cutlery set; an eccentric designer from her past; and Agnes’s cruel novelist boyfriend. As she Ubers from Upper East Side shopping to Craigslist gun deals, Agnes’ desperation becomes an exhibition, a swan song of millennial sexuality as internalized abuse and consummate style, with the knob righty-tightened all the way.

Newton's prose is disturbingly fun, relentless, shattering. A crafted study of existential despair that culminates in a worthy, intense denouement.