Blood Sugar
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3.6 • 331 Ratings
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
A New York Times Best Thriller of the Year
"Terrific. You might come for the mystery, but you will stay for the sheer energy."--New York Times Book Review
An utterly delicious debut thriller that tells the story of the most likable murderess you will ever meet, perfect for fans of Riley Sager and Jessica Knoll.
“I could just kill you right now!” It’s something we’ve all thought at one time or another. But Ruby has actually acted on it. Three times, to be exact.
Though she may be a murderer, Ruby is not a sociopath. She is an animal-loving therapist with a thriving practice. She’s felt empathy and sympathy. She’s had long-lasting friendships and relationships, and has a husband, Jason, whom she adores. But the homicide detectives at Miami Beach PD are not convinced of her happy marriage. When we meet Ruby, she is in a police interrogation room, being accused of Jason’s murder. Which, ironically, is one murder that she did not commit, though a scandal-obsessed public believes differently. As she undergoes questioning, Ruby’s mind races back to all the details of her life that led her to this exact moment, and to the three dead bodies in her wake. Because though she may not have killed her husband, Ruby certainly isn’t innocent.
Alternating between Ruby’s memories of her past crimes and her present-day fight to clear her name, Blood Sugar is a twisty, clever debut with an unforgettable protagonist who you can’t help but root for—an addicting mixture of sour and sweet.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Committing a murder—or three—doesn’t necessarily make you a bad person. At least, that’s what the charming heroine of Sascha Rothchild’s dark and funny thriller would have you believe. Ruby Simon will admit that she’s killed a few people: bullies, abusers—all-around bad people. But that doesn’t mean she killed her diabetic husband. As we were pulled into Ruby’s showdown with police detectives, we found her so charismatic and sincere that it was hard not to take her side…despite the mounting evidence against her. In the end, we couldn’t help rooting for this flawed, complicated, potentially murderous main character—and that’s all thanks to Rothchild’s incredible character-building. This inventive debut is a wonderful surprise.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Rothchild (How to Get Divorced by 30) makes her fiction debut with a mesmerizing thriller. At age five, Ruby Simon holds seven-year-old Duncan Reese underwater in the Atlantic Ocean until he drowns, an act that to her surprise she doesn't feel guilty about. Flash forward 25 years. In a Miami Beach PD interrogation room, Det. Keith Jackson confronts Simon with photos of four murder victims, including Reese. Simon says she killed Reese because he had bullied her beloved older sister, and she decided that drowning him was her only effective option. Simon recalls the circumstances of two other killings before Jackson gets to the crime Simon has been arrested for, her husband's murder. Rothchild does a terrific job keeping readers wondering about Simon's reliability, and pulls off the considerable challenge of engendering sympathy for an unrepentant killer. Vivid prose is another plus—Simon refers to her mother and father as submarine, rather than helicopter, parents because they were "a giant lumbering presence, but too often unseen and too deep to be accessible." Jeff Lindsay fans will have a hard time not devouring this standout effort in one sitting.
Customer Reviews
Blood Sugar
Great beginning; needed more editing as subsequent events lose the immediacy and tension of the opening chapters
Fabulous read!
It’s hard to believe that this witty, smart, compelling book is a first novel. Loved it from beginning to end—and I’m very hard to please. My favorite novel of 2022, and I’ve read over 100 so far.
Excellent and informative
Big fan. Type one diabetic myself so the dead in bed references and allusion to the disease being worse than addiction was rough but all else was compelling and lovely. I especially love that the lead characters primary goals/storyline were not centered on motherhood and a love story (per se). I really enjoyed reading this book and will recommended to friends. Also, it’s one of the most accurate depiction of this horrid disease that I have seen (or read) in recent times.