“A phenomenal, haunting debut.”—Gillian Flynn Nothing burns as bright as the truth.It has been ten years since Abby Williams left home and scrubbed away all visible evidence of her small-town roots. Now working as an environmental lawyer in Chicago, she has a thriving career, a modern apartment, and her pick of meaningless one-night stands.But when a new case takes her back home to Barrens, … when a new case takes her back home to Barrens, Indiana, the life Abby painstakingly created begins to crack. Tasked with investigating Optimal Plastics, the town’s most high-profile company and economic heart, Abby begins to find strange connections to Barrens’s biggest scandal from more than a decade ago, involving the popular Kaycee Mitchell and her closest friends—just before Kaycee disappeared for good.
Abby knows the key to solving any case lies in the weak spots, the unanswered questions. But as she tries desperately to find out what really happened to Kaycee, troubling memories begin to resurface and she begins to doubt her own observations. And when she unearths an even more disturbing secret—a ritual called “The Game”—it will threaten reputations, and lives, in the community and risk exposing a darkness that may consume her.
With tantalizing twists, slow-burning suspense, and a remote rural town of just five claustrophobic square miles, Bonfire is a dark exploration of what happens when your past and present collide.
Praise for Bonfire
“I burned through Krysten Ritter’s hugely accomplished debut. Bonfire is dark, disturbing, and compulsively readable.”—Ruth Ware, bestselling author of The Woman in Cabin 10
“The Jessica Jones star makes an auspicious literary debut with Bonfire, spinning a suspenseful, psychologically gripping story.”—Entertainment Weekly
“In this adroit debut the star of Marvel’s Jessica Jones proves her talents aren’t limited to acting. . . . [Bonfire is] a thriller that delivers suspense, surprise and satisfaction.”—People
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A phenomenal, haunting debut.
I’ll start by saying that this book kept my interest the whole time, I never felt the urge to put it down and walk away. I know this is being marketed as a thrilling mystery, and it is, but what resonated with me is the underlying story of a bullied girl who made good, coming back to the town that persecuted her. Abby was one of the few who escaped and made something of herself. It’s pretty obvious from the beginning that even though she’s well educated and successful, she is still fundamentally messed up by her childhood. Her experiences color her perceptions and expectations, you are left wondering if this bias will affect the job she’s sent home to do.
No one quite believes her when she suspects there is more going on than just an environmental issue. She is the epitome of the unreliable narrator. Is she being manipulated? Is she remembering events that never actually happened? You have to keep reading to find out! This is a solid novel from Ritter, I will be interested to see what else she has up her sleeve.
I read about 3/4 of this book in one night and if that doesn’t tell you something about how engrossed I was in the book I don’t know what does (I did have a cold and was in bed, but that was just a great excuse to lie there).
To start with I thought I was just going to get a ‘mean girls’ novel, and then there were echoes of ‘Erin Brockovich’ and the Flint, MI water crisis playing out. But then came the layers of the main main character’s insecurities, neuroses, the relationship with her dying father, and her memories of a town she wants to leave in the dust. Abby Williams becomes obsessed with getting to the bottom of the disappearance of her old ‘frenemy’ Kaycee Mitchell, and amid a wash of alcohol, and a haze of a past she wants to forget, she starts to forget that she actually came back to Barrens to look into the corruption that has overtaken the town care of the company Optimal.
But somehow it all comes together for Abby and the reader, all in one fell swoop. I actually didn’t find myself trying to guess what was coming next in the story, but I was taken seamlessly through Abby’s moods, her painful flaws, her moments of madness and sadness, and through to the conclusion, without skipping a beat. The only thing I could have done without was the occasional confusing ‘semi-intimate’ moments with guys who wouldn’t have given Abby the time of day back in high school, but I suppose she actually really was the one who was confused. ‘Luckily’ these transgressions end up serving her well, to some degree.
Small-town America looks as depressing to me as most novels would have it, and I was left with the wretched smell of bonfire smoke in my nostrils after reading this, BUT an entirely satisfied feeling of having read Krysten’s debut novel. Krysten is a natural-born writer and I will hurriedly reach for her next one. I enjoyed the book thoroughly. Bravo!
I adore Krysten Ritter as an actress so when I heard she’d written a thriller of course I had to download it immediately. I thought this might be another case of a famous person straying outside their talents but am so so pleased to say that isn’t the case here. I loved this novel. It kept my attention from start to finish, had me guessing and thinking I’d figured everything out only to find myself wrong a few pages later and starting the cycle all over again. I couldn’t put it down and I still find myself thinking about this story even now that I’m done reading.
Terrific thriller that captures small town Indiana life and returning home. Solid mystery. Stayed up way too late to finish it!
Perfect for fans of Jessica Jones! Good plot and enjoyed reading about a great character.
This was an enjoyable read. I loved the twists and turns surrounding the “haunted house” theme. The ending was an unexpected smile!
Pretty good debut novel. Not too difficult to read, although the narrator goes off into tangents during conversations to the point where I sometimes forgot what they would be talking about.
The mystery was quite intriguing and overall the book was very detailed. There was some in depth talk on the characters job and the new business in town.
Krysten Ritter is not only a great actress but a talented writer as well. Great story, well written. I enjoyed it very much. Let’s have more, Krysten!
Liked this book a lot.
Krysten Ritter proves with this debut novel that her writing chops are as excellent as her acting skills. I read this book in one sitting, feeling like I had known these characters forever when I was done. An excellent read and I for one can’t wait for her next one.
Good book, but figured it out long before the end
Almost gave up it should have been a novella. Also seemed like I was reading the book about Silkwood. To many other books to read. This was a book club book…. Ready to move on.
Terrific first novel.
Wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. When past and present collide it’s hard to let go to see the truth. Abby can’t get over her old best friend just leaving town she knows there is more to all this then a girl leaving.
Optimal plastic has done so much for her home town it is almost thriving but there is something that isn’t right. Abby decides to investigate it proving that the plant is more harmful than good. She is positive that the water is contaminated and is determined to prove it.
More secrets surface it’s all a tangled web or is she just making it up? Can she do her job and let go of the past or will the past bury her?
‘Bonfire’ is original, twisted page-turner of a thriller.
The story reminded me of other books with the back to small town to solve the mystery theme but then it begins to twist and turn. Abby Williams leaves her small town of Barrens, Indiana, making up her mind never to return to the town that had nothing but bad memories for her. Abby is now an environmental lawyer in Chicago and you guessed it needs to return along with another lawyer and team members to Barrens to find out just what is happening to the water supply. Soon investigating Optimal Plastics, the company that is giving a lot of money to the town of Barren Abby starts to question just why this is happening. You will meet Abby’s father who she still has issues with, her high school nemesis and other high school acquaintances as slowly her legal team starts digging deeper. As the story slowly builds you will find yourself falling into the dark periods of Abby’s past and present. There are twists and surprises but the story bogs down off and on.
I really enjoyed trying to figure out what was happening along with main character