Vantage Point
A Novel
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3.5 • 22 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Succession meets Megan Abbott in this seductive, technological suspense about the dramatic downfall of one of America’s most affluent families.
“Terrifying and uncanny.” —Katy Hays, New York Times bestselling author of The Cloisters
The old-money Wieland family has it all: wealth, status, power. They’re also famously cursed.
Clara and her brother, Teddy, grew up on a small island in Maine in the shadow of their parents’ tragic deaths, haunted by rumors and paparazzi. Fourteen years later, they’ve mostly put their turbulent past to rest. Teddy has married Clara’s best friend, Jess, and the three of them have moved back home to take over the sprawling, remote family mansion known as Vantage Point.
Then Teddy decides to run for the Senate—an unnerving prospect made much worse when intimate videos of Clara are leaked online. The most frightening part is that she doesn’t remember filming any of them. Are the videos real? Or are they deepfakes? Is someone trying to take down the Wielands once and for all?
Everyone thinks Clara is losing her grasp on reality. But she knows the truth: the videos are only the beginning. Years ago, the curse destroyed her parents. Now, it’s coming for her.
Sara Sligar, the critically acclaimed author of Take Me Apart, returns with a shocking family drama full of suspense. Brimming with palpable tension, Vantage Point carefully unravels a twisted web of family secrets and political ambition that raises questions about the nature of “truth” in our digital age.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The line between truth and fiction is often dangerous in this fast-paced thriller. The Wielands of Maine seem to have it all: money, power—and a dark, unshakeable curse. Scion Teddy is running for Senate, but his campaign faces near ruin when intimate videos of his sister, Clara, and his wife, Jess, are leaked. But are they real or deepfakes? The tension builds as Clara’s mental and physical health deteriorate, with the trust she once shared with her brother and with Jess, her best friend, both eroding. The suspense builds as she goes further down the rabbit hole, determined to understand the truth about the lascivious videos—and about the visions she keeps seeing of her dead parents. Author Sara Sligar skillfully races along in this paranoid tale, dropping deftly placed clues for Clara and Jess to pick up about how they are being manipulated, and by whom. Vantage Point hits all the marks for a great suspense novel.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Viral videos send an influential Maine family reeling in this tempestuous domestic thriller from Sligar (Take Me Apart). So many descendants of steel tycoon Thomas Wieland have met with calamity that most believe the clan is cursed. Clara Wieland first bought into the theory at 16, when she saw her parents die. Sixteen years later, the curse comes for Clara when a degrading sex tape hits the internet. Clara's brother, senatorial candidate Teddy, wants to involve the police, but Clara refuses, too humiliated to admit she doesn't recognize her partner or recall participating in the recording. Then another devastating video drops, this one featuring Clara and her best friend, Jess—Teddy's wife—disparaging Teddy in an exchange neither woman remembers. Suspecting high-tech sabotage, Clara vows to uncover the truth, but in an era of bots, trolls, and deepfakes, that's easier said than done. Doubt and paranoia color Clara and Jess's alternating narration, keeping the tension high throughout. A few preposterous twists tilt the plot toward soap opera territory, but Sligar's nuanced, psychologically complex characters provide sufficient counterweight. Sarah Pinborough fans should take note.
Customer Reviews
Boring, contrived, silly plot
Ridiculous plot and sub-plots, author obviously ran out of steam in the end. The twist was ridiculous as was the motif running through the whole book. Almost could not finish it.
Monotonous
Great premise, poor execution. Story is too long for no reward.