Sunburn

by Laura Lippman

Overview

"Every time Laura Lippman comes out with a new book, I get chills because I know I am back in the hands of the master. She is simply a brilliant novelist, an unflinching chronicler of life in America right now, and Sunburn is her dark, gleaming noir gem. Read it." -Gillian Flynn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl

New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman returns with a superb novel of psychological suspense about a pair of lovers with the best intentions and the worst luck: two people locked in a passionate yet uncompromising game of cat and mouse. But instead of rules, this game has dark secrets, forbidden desires, inevitable betrayals--and cold-blooded murder.

One is playing a long game. But which one?

They meet at a local tavern in the small town of Belleville, Delaware. Polly is set on heading west. Adam says he's also passing through. Yet she stays and he stays--drawn to this mysterious redhead whose quiet stillness both unnerves and excites him. Over the course of a punishing summer, Polly and Adam abandon themselves to a steamy, inexorable affair. Still, each holds something back from the other--dangerous, even lethal, secrets.

Then someone dies. Was it an accident, or part of a plan? By now, Adam and Polly are so ensnared in each other's lives and lies that neither one knows how to get away--or even if they want to. Is their love strong enough to withstand the truth, or will it ultimately destroy them?

Something--or someone--has to give.

Which one will it be?

Inspired by James M. Cain's masterpieces The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, and Mildred Pierce, Sunburn is a tantalizing modern noir from the incomparable Laura Lippman.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062389985
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	07/31/2018
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	183,872
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.72(d)

About the Author

Since Laura Lippman’s debut, she has been recognized as a distinctive voice in mystery fiction and named one of the “essential” crime writers of the last 100 years. Stephen King called her “special, even extraordinary,” and Gillian Flynn wrote, “She is simply a brilliant novelist.” Her books have won most of the major awards in her field and been translated into more than twenty-five languages. She lives in Baltimore and New Orleans with her teenager.

Hometown:

Baltimore, Maryland

Date of Birth:

January 31, 1959

Place of Birth:

Atlanta, Georgia

Education:

B.S., Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University, 1981

Editorial Reviews

Ingeniously constructed and extremely suspenseful, the novel keeps us guessing right up until its final moments. Lippman is a popular and dependable writer, and this homage to classic noir showcases a writer at the height of her powers.

Booklist (starred review)

A masterful mix from a total pro.

People

Sunburn was dark but not too dark, thrilling, richly descriptive with an utterly compelling protagonist...I read this book at a furious pace and never forgot about it all year. Sunburn was a reminder that storytelling matters and good storytelling is all too rare.

Roxane Gay

I feel like it creates a whole new category, which I’m thinking of as ‘femme noir’ [...] She’s taken this traditional noir structure of a man sweeping in to save a woman who then turns around and eats his heart out—she’s turned that notion on its head.

Wall Street Journal

spellbinding [...] this corkscrew of a book, with its psychological insights and sensual charisma, proves once again that Ms. Lippman, as a writer, is sui generis.

Tom Nolan

Laura Lippman’s diamond-hard prose and quirky characterisation epitomises the best in American crime writing...we are mesmerised by her combustible cocktail of the erotic and the malign.

Financial Times

The ingenious plot evolves into myriad twists that are as believable as they are surprising [...] Sunburn delivers one of the year’s most intriguing mysteries.

Associated Press Staff

Laura Lippman's Sunburn may be set in 1995, before Google searches made it a whole lot harder to vanish and start afresh elsewhere, but it takes its inspiration…from '40s noir: Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, The Postman Always Rings Twice…Sunburn, though cool and twisty, has more heart than expected. It's generous in other ways, too. The particular atmosphere of unlovely Belleville is deftly conveyed…People move in and out of the narrative with their own baggage and preoccupations. What they choose to tell us is very subjective and not always directly relevant, and this clamor of voices gives the novel satisfying depth and texture. There's a sense here that we're brushing up against many lives, many versions of the truth.

The New York Times Book Review - Harriet Lane

★ 11/13/2017
Set in Delaware in 1995, this scorching tale of the gray area between betrayal, lust, and murder from Edgar-winner Lippman (Wilde Lake) will resonate with fans of James M. Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity. When Polly Costello walks out on her husband and young daughter during their beach vacation, she gets as far as Belleville, a town with a main drag and not much else, except the High-Ho diner, where she lands a job waitressing, at least for now. Enter Adam Bosk, who knows more than he’s telling—of course, so does Polly—but who can cook a mean burger. Soon Polly and Adam, who is exactly the kind of inquisitive guy a woman with secrets should avoid, are dancing around a relationship when Polly’s checkered past—another husband, insurance money, and now a suspicious death in Belleville—comes crawling back. Lippman ratchets up the suspense the way the mercury in a thermometer creeps up on a hot August day, until everything—Polly’s carefully laid plans of revenge and redemption, Adam’s part in her potential downfall—comes to a boiling point. This is Lippman at her observant, fiercest best, a force to be reckoned with in crime fiction. Agent: Vicky Bijur, Vicky Bijur Literary. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

Fast-paced and unpredictable, Sunburn is a smart, sly riff on love in a world of trouble that’s puzzling until the very last piece falls into place.” — O, the Oprah Magazine

“Cool and twisty.” — New York Times Book Review

“A masterful mix from a total pro.” — People

“Every time Laura Lippman comes out with a new book, I get chills because I know I am back in the hands of the master. She is simply a brilliant novelist, an unflinching chronicler of life in America right now, and Sunburn is her dark, gleaming noir gem. Read it.” — Gillian Flynn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl

“Laura Lippman continues to push the envelope of modern crime-writing. Sunburn, her take on noir, may be her nerviest novel yet, an unsparing look at how lovers can betray one another.” — Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“Suspenseful as hell, and she writes like a dream [...] Lippman’s always good, but this is a cut above.” — Stephen King

“Modern noir at its best, it will delight old-movie lovers, satisfy suspense readers, and reward Lippman’s legion of fans.” — Library Journal (starred review)

“You can tell how much fun the author had updating the classic noir tropes, and it’s contagious. Plotty, page-turning pleasure.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“This is Lippman at her observant, fiercest best, a force to be reckoned with in crime fiction.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Ingeniously constructed and extremely suspenseful, the novel keeps us guessing right up until its final moments. Lippman is a popular and dependable writer, and this homage to classic noir showcases a writer at the height of her powers.” — Booklist (starred review)

“I feel like it creates a whole new category, which I’m thinking of as ‘femme noir’ [...] She’s taken this traditional noir structure of a man sweeping in to save a woman who then turns around and eats his heart out—she’s turned that notion on its head.” — Wall Street Journal

“The ingenious plot evolves into myriad twists that are as believable as they are surprising [...] Sunburn delivers one of the year’s most intriguing mysteries.” — Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers

“Another extraordinary novel from Laura Lippman—full of just-one-more chapter, stay-up-late suspense, but packed too with nuance, subtlety, observation and humanity. Lippman is a natural storyteller at the height of her powers.” — Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“Sunburn was dark but not too dark, thrilling, richly descriptive with an utterly compelling protagonist...I read this book at a furious pace and never forgot about it all year. Sunburn was a reminder that storytelling matters and good storytelling is all too rare.” — Roxane Gay

“spellbinding [...] this corkscrew of a book, with its psychological insights and sensual charisma, proves once again that Ms. Lippman, as a writer, is sui generis.” — Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal

“Great book. Well paced. Beautifully observed details. Interesting characters and nuance in the right places. [...] Thoroughly enjoyed this book and the protagonist who is flawed and brilliant and ruthless and unapologetic.” — Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist and Hunger

“A tantalising, ingeniuously constructed page-turner.” — The Guardian

“Grips like the classic Hollywood black-and-white movie thrillers of the 1930s and 1940s. Sunburn unsettles from its first page.” — The Times (London)

“Note-perfect noir...not to be missed.” — Megan Abbott, Edgar Award-winning author of Dare Me and The Fever

“A pacy, pithy modern take on the noir tradition...terrific entertainment.” — Sunday Mirror

“For once the blurb doesn’t over-promise. Lippman writes the best opening pages of any thriller so far this year.” — Daily Mail (UK)

From the Publisher

Fast-paced and unpredictable, Sunburn is a smart, sly riff on love in a world of trouble that’s puzzling until the very last piece falls into place.

the Oprah Magazine O

Cool and twisty.

New York Times Book Review

Laura Lippman continues to push the envelope of modern crime-writing. Sunburn, her take on noir, may be her nerviest novel yet, an unsparing look at how lovers can betray one another.

Harlan Coben

Every time Laura Lippman comes out with a new book, I get chills because I know I am back in the hands of the master. She is simply a brilliant novelist, an unflinching chronicler of life in America right now, and Sunburn is her dark, gleaming noir gem. Read it.

Gillian Flynn

Suspenseful as hell, and she writes like a dream [...] Lippman’s always good, but this is a cut above.

Stephen King

A tantalising, ingeniuously constructed page-turner.

The Guardian

Grips like the classic Hollywood black-and-white movie thrillers of the 1930s and 1940s. Sunburn unsettles from its first page.

The Times (London)

The ingenious plot evolves into myriad twists that are as believable as they are surprising [...] Sunburn delivers one of the year’s most intriguing mysteries.

Lisa Ko

Another extraordinary novel from Laura Lippman—full of just-one-more chapter, stay-up-late suspense, but packed too with nuance, subtlety, observation and humanity. Lippman is a natural storyteller at the height of her powers.

Lee Child

A pacy, pithy modern take on the noir tradition...terrific entertainment.

Sunday Mirror

Note-perfect noir...not to be missed.

Megan Abbott

For once the blurb doesn’t over-promise. Lippman writes the best opening pages of any thriller so far this year.

Daily Mail (UK)

I feel like it creates a whole new category, which I’m thinking of as ‘femme noir’ [...] She’s taken this traditional noir structure of a man sweeping in to save a woman who then turns around and eats his heart out—she’s turned that notion on its head.

Wall Street Journal

Fast-paced and unpredictable, Sunburn is a smart, sly riff on love in a world of trouble that’s puzzling until the very last piece falls into place.

O: the Oprah Magazine

★ 10/01/2017
After reworking Harper Lee's universe in Wilde Lake, the author gives the star-crossed souls of James M. Cain's fiction the Lippman treatment. Hence, desperate lovers Polly and Adam meet in a sleepy Delaware not-quite-beach town and harbor secrets there and in Baltimore. They circle each other warily, but it's fated they'll end up together. Their affair is threatened by the things they conceal from each other and by enemies lurking all around. Lippman's complicated femme fatale heroine and conflicted hero are more layered than one would expect from noir protagonists, and her nuanced characterizations extend beyond the couple at the center of the story. With an economy of words, she creates three-dimensional characters such as Irving, the man who hires Adam to spy on Polly, Cath, the weak link in a love triangle, and Polly's mother-in-law Savannah, who's not quite sure she's grandma material. Lippman's minute observations about modern life, human foibles, and the many faces of love are lagniappes to this tasty feast of a novel. VERDICT Just try to read this fantastic stand-alone from the creator of the "Tess Monaghan" series slowly. Modern noir at its best, it will delight old-movie lovers, satisfy suspense readers, and reward Lippman's legion of fans. [See Prepub Alert, 8/14/17.]—Liz French, Library Journal

Library Journal

Polly, who’s running from a shady past, meets Adam, who’s just passing through. Secrets layered in deeper secrets unfold slowly and surprisingly in Laura Lippman’s latest psychological chiller. Narrator Susan Bennett takes Lippman’s irresistible setup and puts us in a flickering black-and-white world in which morality is iffy and sometimes being bad isn’t so bad. Bennett makes the wary attraction between the two a kind of dance around the truth. As Adam reveals his reasons for being in town and Polly’s plans unfold, Bennett gives even supporting characters dimension, from Polly’s mother-in-law to her ex- to her rival for Adam. With Lippman’s strong, spare prose and suspenseful plot—including film noir references sprinkled throughout—and Bennett’s solid delivery, this is noir listening at its finest. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2018 - AudioFile