Something Rotten

In his crackling new novel, Andrew Lipstein makes you question everyone, everything, and—above all—the very nature of truth.

Cecilie is a fed-up New York Times reporter. Her husband, Reuben, is a disgraced former NPR host and grudging stay-at-home dad. Neither can wait to flee New York and spend the summer in Copenhagen, Denmark, Cecilie’s hometown. But their vacation begins to turn inside out as soon as they land: Cecilie’s first love, Jonas, has been diagnosed with a rare, fatal illness. All her friends are desperate to get him help—except for Mikkel, a high-powered journalist who happens to be the only one Jonas will listen to.

Mikkel’s influence quickly extends to Reuben, who’s not only intoxicated by Mikkel’s charm but discovers in him a new model of masculinity—one he found hopelessly absent in America. As Mikkel indoctrinates Reuben with ever more depraved stunts, Reuben senses something is seriously amiss. Cecilie, too, begins to question who to trust—even herself. Drawn in by the gravity of the past, she can’t help but stray onto the road not taken.

A twisting, thrilling tale of loyalty and deceit, lovers and fools, Andrew Lipstein's Something Rotten proves that to be kind you sometimes have to be cruel beyond belief.