The resemblance

Lauren Nossett, 1986-

Book - 2022

"Lauren Nossett's artfully written debut, The Resemblance is an exhilarating, atmospheric campus thriller reminiscent of The Secret History and The Likeness. Never betray the brotherhood. On a chilly November morning at the University of Georgia, a fraternity brother steps off a busy crosswalk and is struck dead by an oncoming car. More than a dozen witnesses all agree on two things: the driver looked identical to the victim, and he was smiling. Detective Marlitt Kaplan is first on the scene. An Athens native and the daughter of a UGA professor, she knows all its shameful histories, from the skull discovered under the foundations of Baldwin Hall to the hushed-up murder-suicide in Waddel. But in the course of investigating this hit...-and-run, she will uncover more chilling secrets as she explores the sprawling, interconnected Greek system that entertains and delights the university's most elite and connected students. The lines between Marlitt's police work and her own past increasingly blur as Marlitt seeks to bring to justice an institution that took something precious from her many years ago. When threats against her escalate, and some long-buried secrets threaten to come to the surface, she can't help questioning whether the corruption in Athens has run off campus and into the force and how far these brotherhoods will go to protect their own"--

Saved in:

1st Floor Show me where

MYSTERY/Nossett, Lauren
2 / 2 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
1st Floor MYSTERY/Nossett, Lauren Checked In
1st Floor MYSTERY/Nossett Lauren Checked In
Subjects
Genres
Thrillers (Fiction)
Detective and mystery fiction
Campus fiction
Novels
Published
New York : Flatiron Books 2022.
Language
English
Main Author
Lauren Nossett, 1986- (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
305 pages ; 25 cm
ISBN
9781250843241
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Athens, Georgia, police detective Marlitt Kaplan is spurred by her unresolved past and self-destructive streak to expose a fraternity's dark secrets. When popular University of Georgia fraternity brother Jay Kemp is killed in a hit-and-run, witnesses offer incredible reports: the laughing driver looked exactly like the victim and seemed to accelerate toward the crosswalk. Even stranger, traffic video shows that the weaponized car belonged to Kemp. When Marlitt and her partner, Teddy, follow up at Kemp's fraternity house, Marlitt's "Spidey sense" points her to Michael Williams, the college president's son. Despite the police chief's enraged warning to tread lightly, she sneaks into the house and finds evidence of torture. But before they can link that evidence to Kemp's death, Marlitt is severely wounded in a fire, and she's off the case. Scarred inside and out and convinced that the fire was retribution for poking into the fraternity's secrets, Marlitt refuses to stop digging for answers. Her reckless tenacity adds a layer of unpredictability and plays right into the novel's well-developed themes of loyalty and regret.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Det. Marlitt Kaplan--the 29-year-old narrator of Nossett's impassioned if overwrought debut--is tired of being sidelined by her paternalistic boss, so she's elated to be first on the scene of a fatal hit-and-run at the University of Georgia in her hometown of Athens. According to witnesses, Kappa Phi Omicron member Jay Kemp was crossing the street when a car driven by his smiling doppelgänger accelerated in order to strike him. Marlitt despises fraternities for something that happened while she was in college, and suspects KPO is somehow responsible for Jay's death--particularly after one of the brothers wipes Jay's laptop before police can examine it. She begins obsessively investigating Jay's fellow KPO members, despite doubts from coworkers, admonitions from her supervisor, and escalating threats against Marlitt and her police partner. Nossett delivers a scathing indictment of Greek life cloaked in a twisty mystery rife with red herrings. The plot is overly busy and a convoluted denouement strains credulity, but Marlitt's fanatical first-person voice adds urgency and focus. Nossett is off to a solid start. Agent: Hillary Jacobson, ICM Partners. (Nov.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review

A fraternity brother at the University of Georgia is struck dead in a hit-and-run, and witnesses concur that the driver--who looked just like the victim--was cheerfully smiling as he swooped away. When Det. Marlitt Kaplan uncovers nasty secrets plaguing the fraternity system, the threats come fast and furious. A professor herself, Nossett racks up a 150,000-copy first printing for her debut.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

A homicide detective uncovers dark secrets about a local fraternity as she investigates a hit-and-run. Detective Marlitt Kaplan happens to be on the University of Georgia campus when an unknown driver hits and kills a student. The victim, Jay Kemp, is a member of the Kappa Phi Omicron fraternity. While his fellow Kap-Os insist that they are shocked and grief-stricken, Marlitt is convinced they have something to hide. The ensuing story is part police procedural, part general critique of the Greek system. Marlitt has a long-standing grudge against fraternities and all the avoidable tragedies that happen under their watch. "I collect them," Marlitt says early on, "these horrendously sad and never-ending accounts all across the nation, pile them up in my memory, so I can bury the thing at its core." Her obsession keeps the investigation, and the plot, progressing at a fair clip even as her fellow police begin to discourage her persistence. This obsession can also, however, veer into didacticism. She has such a vendetta against the frat brothers, for example--from the "golden boy" chapter president, Tripp Holmes, to Michael Williams, the charming but ruthless son of the university's president--that her narration tends to flatten them into caricatures. Still, suspense-filled scenes, like an ill-conceived undercover mission at a "Hawaiian nights" party, keep the pages turning, and there are many gripping questions that will keep readers glued to the page. Why did the driver look exactly like the victim? And why was he driving the victim's car? Why, during the novel's shocking midway point, does Marlitt wake in the night screaming a language she doesn't speak? The answers are genuinely surprising, if at times unsatisfying. Overall, it's a fun read with some surprising twists that will keep readers on their toes. A competent detective thriller with an overly moralizing narrator. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.