October 4, 2021
In 1932, Frances Addams, the protagonist of Thompson’s winning debut, flees a Kansas dust bowl farm for New York City, where she joins her older brother, Stan, whom she hasn’t heard from in months. Frances suspects Stan, who looks worn down, and his friend from back home, Ben, a WWI vet who makes a living as a sax player, may be involved in dangerous illegal activity—though neither one will tell her anything. When Stan ends up murdered, Frances embarks, with the help of Ben and her friend and love interest, Agnes, on a perilous quest to enact vengeance on her brother’s killer that leads her into the sordid underbelly of Prohibition-era organized crime—and to the top of the Empire State Building. Simultaneously an amateur sleuth mystery, a romance, and a coming-of-age tale, this depiction of Depression-era New York is both richly described and poignantly insightful (“His cologne was so strong she felt faint, flooded with the smell of money and good times and danger”). Deep character development, relentless pacing, and understated noir atmospherics bode well for Thompson’s next.
November 1, 2021
Kansas farm girl Frances follows her older brother Stan to New York City to escape her abusive father. On the train to New York, she meets Jacks, a journalist, and Dicky, a photographer. They're wealthy, glamorous, and sophisticated, and their lifestyle is eye-opening but mystifying to Frances. When she discovers that Stan lives in a rundown, rat-infested tenement, the contrast couldn't be more marked. She knows he won't approve of her blossoming friendship with Jacks and Dicky, nor of her attraction to Dicky's assistant, Agnes, but she continues to see them and feels attracted to their flamboyant lifestyle. But then something terrible happens, and Frances finds herself drawn into a dark and deadly world where scandal and corruption are rife, money and power reign, life is cheap, and violence is ever-present. Set in Depression-era New York, Thompson's story portrays both the glitter and glamour of the Big Apple and its darker, seamier side. Noirish, evocative, and original, with charismatic and colorful characters, bizarre twists, and an unexpected ending, this is a promising debut from a talented new author.
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