Everybody Knows
'Terrifying and exhilarating.' JAMES PATTERSON
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4.1 • 8 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
**WINNER OF THE CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER**
A Times, Guardian and Crimereads Book of the Year
'Cinematic and insightful. Everybody Knows is a tour de force.' GUARDIAN
'A heart-racing journey of danger and redemption.' DAILY MAIL
'I doubt there will be a better American crime novel this year.' DAILYTELEGRAPH
'Dark and thrilling.' GRAZIA
In Hollywood, nobody talks. But everybody whispers.
Welcome to Mae Pruett's LA. A 'black-bag' publicist at one of Hollywood's most powerful crisis PR firms, Mae's job isn't to get good news out, it's to keep the bad news in and contain the scandals. But just as she starts to question her job and life choices, her boss is gunned down in front of the Beverly Hills Hotel, and everything changes.
Investigating with the help of an ex-boyfriend, Mae dives headlong into a neon joyride through the jungle of contemporary Hollywood. Pitted against the twisted system she's worked so hard to perpetuate, she's desperately fighting for redemption, and her life.
Readers are gripped by Everybody Knows:
***** 'The year's best detective novel. . . a fresh take with a compelling heroine worth rooting for.'
***** 'Powerful and brutal. I couldn't put it down.'
***** 'A wonderful yet wretched exploration of human nature, you will struggle to put this book down or ever forget it'
***** 'Addictive. . .an atmospheric neo-noir with crackling dialogue and finely drawn characters.'
***** 'A superb story with a genuine sense of moral outrage.'
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Edgar winner Harper (She Rides Shotgun) brilliantly taps into the zeitgeist for this crime novel that perfectly reflects its time and place. As a series of bombings ravage the homeless encampments of Los Angeles, the city's wealthy elite are protected by "black-bag publicists" like Mae Pruett. A crisis manager for L.A.'s rich and famous, Mae helps to keep their dirty laundry and debauched escapades from reaching the public. This can, of course, be a complicated job, and requires a tag team effort from a multidisciplinary group of lawyers, journalists, and, when necessary, hired muscle. When Mae's boss, Dan Hennigan, is murdered, Mae and her ex, Chris Tamburro, a disgraced former cop who's now employed by a private security company, wind up working the same case. As they investigate, they follow Hennigan's side hustle down a dark road involving über-rich predators and some of Hollywood's most vulnerable. Combing the brutality of James Ellroy with the poetic sensibility of Raymond Chandler, Harper takes the reader on a searing journey into L.A.'s underworld where truth and righteousness have become irrelevant and only power has currency. This neo-noir is a must read.
Customer Reviews
Nobody talks, but everybody whispers
The author is an American television writer and producer turned novelist.
The setting is present day LA. Mae is an up and coming star at a public relations agency specialising in neutralising or at least mitigating the misadventures of celebrity or political clients, and extremely rich ones who prefer to stay anonymous. Her agency and others are part of web of lawyers and security firms that compromise what she calls “The Beast,” the venal power structure that holds everything together.
Chris is a fortyish ex-cop who works as a fixer for one of the aforementioned lawyers. He and Mae team up after her boss gets gunned down outside the Beverly Hills Hotel. They uncover more dastardliness under every stone they turn over. The body count rises. Trigger warning: child exploitation. Everything builds to a somewhat ambiguous conclusion that fits the narrative.
The style owes much to James Elroy, with black humour aplenty, and some great one liners, but is more reader friendly IMO. Mr Harper earned his chops writing for the small screen. It shows. I would be surprised if this wasn’t on Netflix (or similar) in the not too distant future.