Prom Mom: A Thriller

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It’s January 2020, and Amber Glass has just returned to Baltimore to settle her stepfather’s estate. She has no intentions of reconnecting with Joe, who is now married to a beautiful and successful plastic surgeon named Meredith, but she can’t seem to stay away – and Joe can’t stay away from her, either. This is a character driven, slow burner with the central protagonists not being especially likeable as they play a game of cat and mouse with each other. Who will emerge the winner? All of them are certainly calculating maybe even cold, perhaps a bit bad ass, definitely selfish, some are full of excuses, occasionally honest, but often not. As for the mothers, frankly, they’re in a league of their own. Out of all of them, Amber is probably the most likeable and I do root for her, especially after what she’s been through. What makes this slow burn story different than other mystery/thrillers is the author’s razor-sharp writing, characterizations, and plotting. The tension is palpable and I could not stop listening, finishing it in one day. I’m fascinated by people who, in the middle of a pandemic, would be like, ‘Yeah, I can have an affair,’” Lippman continues, adding how the human condition will rationalize just about anything when it comes to obtaining what we think we deserve, which is what we come to find out about Nice Guy™ Joe, one of three protagonists in Prom Mom, who “can justify pretty much anything he does.” Joe and Amber hadn’t been high-school sweethearts – she was tutoring him French when they’d become involved. And it’s clear each had wanted something quite different from the relationship.

As Amber was getting her art gallery ready for its opening, Joe came into the shop, and it all started over again for her. What about for Joe? Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me with an amazing digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts. EXCERPT: Joe Simpson, denuded of words that linked him to Amber Glass, was simply a successful real estate salesman. All Amber wanted for herself was what had been granted to Joe. was that so much to ask?Similar to Lippman’s last book, I think readers will either love or hate Prom Mom. It worked for me in the best ways, and I found it oddly addicting. I had no idea where the plot was headed--and I enjoyed where it landed. Yeah, my vibe’s gotten really dark. It happens that the book I’m working on right now is about a minor character from the Tess Monaghan series. I took this 68-year-old woman and put her on a cruise. I think of it as a mash-up of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler and Charade. It’s a sweet book, but of course it’s still a crime novel. Buzz starts early for any new Lippman book, and this one already has the cicadas in high gear." -- Booklist (starred review)

Presumably, the Covid-set phone calls between two of the characters in Prom Mom in tandem in their cars were inspired by Lippman’s calls with Marshall, but Lippman says she actually drew from a friend’s affair that occurred during the early days of the pandemic. “I don’t think he knows that!” she exclaims. I’m totally into my Hestia vibes. She had to tend to the fire of Mount Olympus pretty much 24/7. I’m like: Zeus, I can’t get married. I’m taking care of the hearth. I’m doing a lot of stuff here. Leave me alone. Just as we begin to learn the history of our characters in Prom Mom, we are swept between the past and the present as they move beyond what drew them together to a new life. Or do we move beyond? UNPUTDOWNABLE —I read in two sittings. I could not wait to see how this one played out. My nerves were shot. Nothing is as it appears. After a book like this—no sleep. Your mind will be racing. You have no idea where the author is taking you but hang on the wild ride. Totally unexpected! This last element — Joe’s struggle to hold on to his privilege and his willingness to manipulate anyone who gets in his way — is the most timeless, the most Cain-like, moment in the book. Here is a dreamer and schemer for the 21st century, ready to make hell break loose.

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Laura Lippman delivers provocative novels about ordinary people caught up in chaos....Crime is central to the plot -- these are mysteries, after all -- but often it is hiding in the shadows, ready to leap out when least expected. Outstanding." -- Florida Sun-Sentinel Prom Mom” isn’t in a hurry to pull the pin on that question, delighting instead in the slow reveal of characters who aren’t exactly what they seem. Meredith is not, in fact, a money-grubbing body mechanic; emotionally scarred by a bout with childhood leukemia, she participates in annual medical missions in Central America. She also knows all about Joe’s past and, most significantly, forgives him and urges him to forgive himself. When I was writing it, I didn’t expect it to become so timely. I did not see the overturning of Roe v Wade – I should have, but I didn’t. There’s this old quote about writing that it’s the choice between, you know afflicting the comfortable or comforting the afflicted. I think a lot of novelists choose to comfort the comfortable, and flatter their readers. Those books read like a hot knife through butter. I don’t do that. There were other things in Prom Mom that made people nervous.