Notes on Surviving the Fire
A Novel
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
When Sarah’s only friend in her graduate program is found dead of an alleged heroin overdose, Sarah is forced back into the orbit of the man in their department who assaulted her. A hurtling ride of a novel—darkly funny and propulsive.
"A thriller’s bones, a satire’s glare, and a comeuppance story’s anarchic spirit.”—The New Yorker
"Wonderfully mordant. . . . It's one of the best depictions of how trauma cracks the psyche that I've read recently."—New York Times "Best Mystery Novels of 2025"
At a Ph.D. program in Southern California, Sarah and her best friend, Nathan, spend their time working on their theses, getting high, and keeping track of the poor air quality due to nearby forest fires. No one believes Sarah when she reports a fellow student for raping her at a party—“He’s such a good guy!”—and the Title IX office simply files away the information, just like the police. Nathan is the only person who cares.
When Sarah finds Nathan dead of an overdose from a drug he’s always avoided, she knows something isn’t right. She starts investigating his death as a murder, and as the pieces fall into place, she notices a disturbing pattern in other student deaths on campus.
As a girl, Sarah grew up in the forests of Maine, following her father on hunts, learning how to stalk prey and kill, but only when necessary. Now, she must confront a different type of killing—and decide if it can be justified.
Notes on Surviving the Fire is a story about vengeance, the insidious nature of rape culture, and ultimately, a woman's journey to come back to herself.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Murphy debuts with a bold and complex thriller that tackles rape culture and academic bureaucracy with a pinch of Buddhist philosophy. After police dismiss the death of Sarah Commons's best friend, Nathan, as an accident, Sarah decides to launch her own inquiry. The two were graduate students in a Southern California religious studies program, and Nathan became Sarah's main supporter after she was raped by another man in their department. While investigating Nathan's death, Sarah starts to wonder if his demise is linked with the many deaths documented in a memorial tunnel on campus, and begins to suspect her rapist might be involved. As she contemplates revenge, she draws on lessons from the religious texts she's studying, as well as those she learned while hunting with her father as a child. Murphy traverses multiple genres over the course of Sarah's investigation, dark academia, amateur detective fiction, revenge thriller, and social satire among them. Though the tonal shifts can induce whiplash, Murphy establishes a convincing sense of psychological realism while making salient points about the challenges women face in the aftermath of sexual violence. Readers seeking a tidy conclusion may be unsatisfied, but those in the mood for more challenging fare will be rewarded.
