Everybody Knows
A Novel
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3.8 • 416 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In this “dazzling” (New York Times Book Review) mystery from an Edgar Award winning author, a fearless black-bag publicist exposes the belly of the L.A. beast.
A New York Times Best Crime Book of the Year • A NYTBR Editors' Choice Selection • An Anthony Award Nominee • A Barry Award Nominee • An ABA January 2023 Indie Next List Pick •
Recommended by New York Times Book Review • NPR/Fresh Air • Wall Street Journal • Washington Post • LA Times • CrimeReads • The Boston Globe • South Florida Sun Sentinel • Alta Online • Lit Hub• Kirkus Reviews• Publishers Weekly• NBC/TODAY and many more!
Welcome to Mae Pruett’s Los Angeles, where “Nobody talks. But everybody whispers.” As a “black-bag” publicist tasked not with letting the good news out but keeping the bad news in, Mae works for one of LA’s most powerful and sought-after crisis PR firms, at the center of a sprawling web of lawyers, PR flaks, and private security firms she calls “The Beast.” They protect the rich and powerful and depraved by any means necessary.
After her boss is gunned down in front of the Beverly Hills Hotel in a random attack, Mae takes it upon herself to investigate and runs headfirst into The Beast’s lawless machinations and the twisted systems it exists to perpetuate. It takes her on a roving neon joyride through a Los Angeles full of influencers pumped full of pills and fillers; sprawling mansions footsteps away from sprawling homeless encampments; crooked cops and mysterious wrecking crews in the middle of the night.
Edgar Award-winner Jordan Harper’s Everybody Knows is addicting and alarming, a “juggernaut of a novel” and “an absolute tour de force.” It is what the crime novel can achieve in the modern age: portray the human lives at the center of vast American landscapes, and make us thrill at their attempts to face impossible odds.
"The book everybody's been waiting for" —Michael Connelly
"An absolute tour de force"—S. A. Cosby
"The best mystery novel I've read in years" —James Patterson
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This fun thriller plunges us deep into the rotten underbelly of Hollywood’s shiny celebrity culture. Mae is a black-bag publicist, someone hired to deflect attention from her famous clients’ sins. Her ex—thug-for-hire Chris—uses his fists to silence ugly gossip when all else fails. When Mae’s boss dies in an apparent carjacking, both Mae and Chris get pulled into a frenetic investigation into the dark secret that someone was willing to kill for. Author Jordan Harper comes on like a cross between Raymond Chandler and Jackie Collins, turning the violence and the glamour up to 11 and then breaking the knob. We loved the book’s two main characters, who are surprisingly likable even when they’re doing some extremely shady things. Block off some time for this dark and entertaining read.
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
Ok
The mystery was interesting but it’s super depressing. The end is not satisfying at all.
A must read
Gripping and hard core antics of the rich and famous sprinkled with depravity and menace. Don’t let the negative reviews keep you from getting this one. It pegs the LA flakes and phonies and pretends you’re an insider.
Everybody Knows
Starts with LA speak but lights up fast then faster to the end