The Smaller Evil

by Stephanie Kuehn Narrated by Ryan Gesell, Mark Bramhall

Overview

Sometimes the greater good requires the smaller evil.
*
17-year-old Arman Dukoff can't remember life without anxiety and chronic illness when he arrives at an expensive self-help retreat in the remote hills of Big Sur. He's taken a huge risk-and two-thousand dollars from his meth-head stepfather-for a chance to "evolve," as Beau, the retreat leader, says.

Beau is complicated. A father figure? A cult leader? A con man? Arman's not sure, but more than anyone he's ever met, Beau makes Arman feel something other than what he usually feels-worthless.

The retreat compound is secluded in coastal California mountains among towering redwoods, and when the iron gates close behind him, Arman believes for a moment that he can get better. But the program is a blur of jargon, bizarre rituals, and incomprehensible encounters with a beautiful girl. Arman is certain he's failing everything. But Beau disagrees; he thinks Arman has a bright future-though he never says at what.

And then, in an instant Arman can't believe or totally recall, Beau is gone. Suicide? Or murder? Arman was the only witness and now the compound is getting tense. And maybe dangerous.

As the mysteries and paradoxes multiply and the hints become accusations, Arman must rely on the person he's always trusted the least: himself.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

05/23/2016
With his drug-addicted father in and out of jail and his neglectful mother wishing him out of the house, 17-year-old Arman seeks solace and guidance in Beau, a charismatic adult who promises a way to free Arman from his feelings of inadequacy. Arman joins Kira, a fellow classmate, and Dale, her boyfriend, on a retreat with Beau. Instead of the campsite expected, the three find themselves on the Evolve compound, a center of more than 100 devotees committed to uncovering their truest selves through exercises that challenge their abilities and memories. When the compound’s leader disappears and factions within the camp turn ugly, Arman, Kira, and Dale must decide whether they are being manipulated and how to escape. Balancing Arman’s experience with Beau’s inner thoughts, Kuehn (Delicate Monsters) elevates the religious cult novel with this sophisticated psychological mystery centered on the concept of the double effect—that the “greater good outweighs the smaller evil.” Though certain characters are more archetypal than three-dimensional, the book’s philosophical undertones and uncertain ending are transfixing. Ages 14–up. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. (Aug.)

From the Publisher

★"Kuehn’s specialty in depicting mental illness and her sharp, quick writing are on display in her latest novel, but it is her satirical integration of New Age hippie rituals with the pseudoscientific jargon of the self-help retreat world that is the most compelling addition. Fans of the author’s work will find familiar material in this book. Readers interested in a Gillian Flynn–style take on cults and self-help retreats will also be intrigued."—SLJ, starred review

"Suspenseful and enigmatic, bristling with Stephanie Kuehn's vivid prose and sharp-eyed characterizations, The Smaller Evil kept me guessing till the very last page. I immediately flipped back to the first page to read it again, and so will you." —Laura Ruby, Michael L. Printz Award winning author of Bone Gap.

"The Smaller Evil, with an engaging main character, precise, vivid writing and a continuous rushing train of tensions, is a captivating thriller." —2015 PEN/Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Working Writer Fellowship Judges
 
Praise for Delicate Monsters:
"Intelligent, compulsively readable literary fiction with a dark twist." -Booklist, starred
 
“[A] tough, punishing novel about the damages we inflict on others and the shaky defenses we build to mask trauma and guilt.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
 
“As she did in Charm & Strange and Complicit, Kuehn unflinchingly explores the darkest places of the human psyche, leaving many lingering questions about nature-versus-nurture and the relentlessness of mental illness.” —The Horn Book Magazine
 
Praise for Complicit:
"Kuehn writes with the fleetness of a trained thriller author...Explosive." -Booklist, starred
 
Accolades for Charm & Strange
William C. Morris Award Medalist
 

School Library Journal

★ 06/01/2016
Gr 9 Up—High school senior Arman Dukoff is in serious need of help. He hates his awkwardness, his social timidity, and how he feels trapped in his own head. When he meets Beau, who seems to see so much more potential within Arman, the protagonist jumps at the chance to follow him and his group. Once at the Compound, though, Arman is confronted by a confusing whirlwind of incomprehensible rituals and strangely technical jargon—but most confusing of all is Beau's sudden disappearance during the program. Arman is devastated not just because of Beau's insistent, optimistic belief in his potential but also due to a mysterious encounter they had right before he went missing. The teen is determined to find his friend and get answers—about Beau and himself. Young fans of the hairpin plot twists and turns of psychological thrillers will be drawn to Kuehn's latest offering. In particular, readers familiar with her previous titles will find echoes of similar themes at work here—a teenage male protagonist who is also an unreliable narrator. Kuehn's specialty in depicting mental illness and her sharp, quick writing are on display in her latest novel, but it is her satirical integration of New Age hippie rituals with the pseudoscientific jargon of the self-help retreat world that is the most compelling addition. VERDICT Fans of the author's work will find familiar material in this book. Readers interested in a Gillian Flynn-style take on cults and self-help retreats will also be intrigued.—Evelyn Khoo Schwartz, Georgetown Day School, Washington, DC

SEPTEMBER 2016 - AudioFile

Ryan Gesell narrates the story 17-year-old Arman, who wants to change so desperately that he flees to the compound of a charismatic leader. Gesell expresses the boy’s terrible self-loathing in a way that’s painful to hear. Just when Gesell’s heartrending narration becomes unbearable, the story shifts: Arman discovers the bloody body of the guru he admires. When he returns with help, the body is missing, and so is his memory of what happened. Gesell’s narration marks Arman’s growing strength as he fights to overcome suspicion and conspiracies. Mark Bramhall narrates interspersed bits that give the views of an unnamed character. Bramhall’s voice is deep and detached. His authoritative philosophical comments are juxtaposed with the psychological twists, fast pacing, and immediacy that Gesell so skillfully delivers. S.W. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2016-05-04
Strange occurrences at a secluded self-help retreat threaten 17-year-old Arman's already fragile mental healthFor as long as he can remember, Arman has taken medications for numerous chronic physical and emotional ailments. So when Beau, a reassuring but mysterious man, invites Arman to a healing retreat in the hills of Big Sur, he accepts. He's nervous but eager for a chance to move beyond his sense of brokenness. At the retreat compound, Arman is among strangers, except for his classmate Kira, a black girl who is the daughter of a famous civil rights attorney, and her boyfriend, Dale. Like Arman and most of the other characters, Dale is white. Arman is at once comforted and confused by Beau's interest in him and by his encounters with a beautiful girl, a cook at the compound. But talk of "inoculation" and "quarantine" and the program's other odd rituals unnerve Arman, as effectively conveyed in Kuehn's third-person narration. When Beau disappears, Arman is the only witness to what may have been a murder or a suicide—he's not sure which, because he can't remember exactly what happened. Arman's tale of self-discovery is woven into the bigger mystery of Beau's fate, but the result of the latter is less than enthralling. More gripping is the insightful and empathetic look into the mind of a teen struggling to heal.Rich prose and a complex main character salvage this suspenseful but less-than-satisfying mystery. (Thriller. 14-18)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169295757
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	08/02/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

An Excerpt from The Smaller Evil

“You have to stop hurting yourself,” Beau said softly.

“I know.”

“I mean it. You’ve been taught to turn your pain inward. But that’s wrong. It’s sick. Do you understand me?”

Arman nodded. “I . . . I think so.”

“No!” Beau hissed. “That’s your whole damn problem, thinking. Ever since the day we met, you’ve told me what you think about things. But you don’t feel and you don’t do. Not in any meaningful way. Feeling and doing, they’re more important than the thoughts inside your head. They’re our primary channels to health. To immunity.”

“Huh?” Arman shivered. He couldn’t even pretend to comprehend what was going on.

Beau sighed. “Do you take care of yourself by thinking about exercising? Or by actually exercising?”

“Actually exercising.”

“And does thinking about, say, sex keep you from wanting it? Or do you find you’re driven to satisfy your desires in more physical ways?”

At this, a great roar of laughter rose up behind him, and Arman longed to melt. Or evaporate. Did everyone know about him and the cook? That’s what it felt like. But he managed to answer, “I . . . satisfy my desires.”

“I would hope so,” Beau said smoothly. “So when I say that you need to express your pain externally, what is it that you need to do?”

“I need to do it.”

“That’s right.” A look of approval crossed Beau’s face, and seeing this calmed Arman. It reassured him that he was saying the right things and doing what was expected of him. It also gave him hope this ordeal would soon be over. He watched eagerly as Beau rolled his own shirtsleeves up, exposing the smooth skin of his forearms. Then Beau pulled something from the side pocket of his pants. He worked hard to pry whatever it was open before dropping it right in the center of Arman’s palm.

Gasps came from the surrounding circle, and Arman stared, disbelieving. It was a knife. Beau had given him a pocketknife. A strange-looking one, with a rosewood handle and an ornate type of blade Arman had never seen before. Rather than a solid steel color, this blade was a dramatic mix of light and dark, of everything in between. Streaks of grays and blacks covered the entire surface—a gleaming feat of metallurgy that worked to form a distinctive pattern of whorls and loops. Like a fingerprint.

“My grandfather made it,” Beau said. “It’s a Damascus. Truly one of a kind.”

Arman said nothing. He just kept staring at the blade.

Then he looked at Beau’s outstretched, unscarred arms. Like an offering.

A sacrifice.

For him.

“Wait a minute,” Arman said slowly, shaking his head. “No. No, I won’t do that. Of course not. I won’t hurt you.”

“Yes, you will. You’ll do it now. Go on.”

Arman swallowed hard. His trembling hand closed around the knife’s hilt. It was heavier than he’d realized, and it was nothing for him to let the weight of the decorative blade tip down to rest against Beau’s soft wrist. He glanced up.

“I can’t do this,” he said.

“You can. You will.”

Arman nodded. Held his breath. Then he began pressing down on the blade. Slowly. Very slowly. Until pop! The skin gave. A dot of red appeared. The smallest mark. He quickly looked at Beau again. He wanted approval. He wanted to be told to stop.

“Deeper.” Beau fixed his calm river-pebble gaze on him. “As deep as you can go. To the bone.”

“What?” Arman yanked his hand back. “No!”

“You said you wanted to heal.”

“Yeah, but not like this. This isn’t healing. It’s gross.”

“Are you sure, Arman? Or is that just what you think?”

Was this really happening? “I’m sure I think it’s true.”

Beau bent forward then, lowering his voice to a whisper, making it a moment just between them. “Maybe the truth is that you don’t know what healing looks like. Maybe nothing you know is as it seems.”

“And why would that be?”

“Because you’re here. Because you can’t see the truth from where you’re standing. Because you’re like a dog chasing a squirrel as it runs around a tree. You don’t realize you could catch the damn thing if you just stood still.”

Thick and heavy, Arman’s nausea had returned to roost. “So what? I’m just supposed to do something I don’t want to do because you think I should?”

“Alia tentanda via est. That’s our motto here.”

“I don’t even know what that means!”

“It means ‘another way must be tried.’”

Of course it did. And of course Arman understood. This was the moment he was meant to crack. This was the moment that he was meant to see the error of his ways and demonstrate that his disgust and self-loathing were far better off directed at the people in his life who’d actually caused him pain.

The thing was Arman didn’t see it that way. The truth of who he was and why was so much more complicated than that. The swipe of a sword at a self-appointed father figure couldn’t begin to bear that burden.

Besides, what Beau was asking him to do, well, it was wrong.

It wasn’t right.

So Arman gripped the knife, as tight as he could, and with a snarl, he flung the weapon out of the circle. It arced high in the night air, spinning end over end, before tumbling over the edge of the ravine to vanish into the blackness.

“No,” he told Beau again. “I won’t do that.”

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