Both a taut whodunit and a haunting snapshot of the effects of a violent crime, Little Threats tells the story of a woman who served fifteen years in prison for murder…and now it’s time to find out if she’s guilty.In the summer of 1993, twin sisters Kennedy and Carter Wynn are embracing the grunge era and testing every limit in their privileged Richmond suburb. But Kennedy’s teenage rebellion … Kennedy’s teenage rebellion goes too far when, after a night of partying in the woods, her best friend, Haley, is murdered, and suspicion quickly falls upon Kennedy. She can’t remember anything about the night in question, and this, along with the damning testimony from a college boy who both Kennedy and Haley loved, is enough to force Kennedy to enter a guilty plea.
In 2008, Kennedy is released into a world that has moved on without her. Carter has grown distant as she questions Kennedy’s innocence, and begins a relationship with someone who could drive the sisters apart forever. The twins’ father, Gerry, is eager to protect the family’s secrets and fragile bonds. But Kennedy’s return brings the tragedy back to the surface, along with a whole new wave of media. When a crime show host comes to town asking questions, believing the murder wasn’t as simple as it seemed, murky memories of Haley’s death come to light. As new suspects emerge and the suburban woods finally give up their secrets, two families may be destroyed again.
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Emily Schultz’s Little Threats is an exquisitely written and thrilling novel about growing up and breaking apart, about the past refusing to loosen its grip on us, and about the impossibility of going back and righting the wrongs that send us spiraling out of control. And, of course, it’s a whale of a whodunnit. This is a riveting and powerful novel about friendship and fate, youth and time, and the toll these things take on all of us. Don’t miss it!
Emily Schultz’s LITTLE THREATS is a complex, powerful, emotionally wrenching thriller with a deceptively simple premise: what if you agreed to serve 15 years in prison for a murder you have no memory of committing? Intense, twisty, and compelling—once you begin reading, you won’t be able to stop!
At its heart, Little Threats is a devastating and elegiac novel about teenage friendships, sexuality, drug use, and ultimately betrayal. Emily Schultz is unflinching in revealing the way prison isn’t merely a place, but a feeling that can haunt a girl who grew into a woman behind bars. Freedom isn’t absolution, and the answers are as painful as the questions in this heart-stopping, powerful story.
Little Threats hooked me from the first line. A gripping, haunting story about family, memory, and most of all, grief—this book is difficult to put down, and more difficult to stop thinking about.
Brilliantly structured and gorgeously written, Little Threats is a captivating mystery about a young woman accused of a brutal murder–one she isn’t sure she’s committed. It’s a story of love and loss, the power of guilt and the savagely delicate fabric of family.
Schultz unfolds her story with masterful precision and restraint, delivering a novel that is pure emotional dynamite.
3 stars
This was less of who done it and more of a character study. The only ones that are likeable are Kennedy and Everett. This book is slow moving and took me forever!
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my free copy in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars
I don’t know how to begin this review, but I expected so much from this book that when I finished it I wanted to give myself some time to let it rest and that my opinion wasn’t influenced by how little I liked it that in the end I forgot to do the review at the time.
As I said before, the synopsis caught me as soon as I read it and when I received the copy of the book I was very happy that I started it right away, but it was so slow that what I thought would take me one or two days to read it was spreading because it didn’t catch me the way i was expected. I don’t understand why Kennedy doesn’t try and fight to find the truth or at least be sure that she is really guilty of the murder she was accused of and locked up, but of course I imagine that the author puts her in that resigned mode so that what we discover happens that fateful night in the end make a little sense, no much but works for the closing of everything here.
The story seemed to improve almost at the end and I personally like that this kind of genre to catch me from the beginning.
I still recommend to read it, my opinion doesn’t have to coincide with the rest so maybe I’m the one who didn’t know how to get into this story.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest opinion.
Until next time 🙂
Twin stories are always fun and explore two sides of the same household which is a great springboard for drama. For me, this book moved too slow and had a lot of tropes that we’ve seen, including the strange addition of a ghost element late in the book that felt very thrown in. I would definitely not want to live in this world because creepy men seem to be everywhere. The characters were interesting, but not surprising. In fact, they often felt predictable as if tropes themselves.
Although I understand that I received an early proof copy, it was so riddled with spelling issues and formatting errors that I had a hard time following. Every other paragraph was broken up with strange symbols and numbers throughout the text that clearly seemed to be formatting references. I just hope the final eBook was fixed prior to release.
As for the story, there were no surprises for me which was a shame. I enjoyed the 90s references and the details of teenage life were spot-on, having been a teen then myself. That element of the book is what kept me engaged as well as the question of whether Kennedy actually did murder her best friend.
It’s a sibling teenage drama rather than a thriller, and that bait-n-switch keeps happening with new books. It sours my excitement for opening a new “thriller”. I struggled through the first 70% hoping for more. It could just be me and the world around us right now but even the ending was a little lackluster. My thought was, “that’s a shame,” and I could apply that to the plot resolution and the overall experience.
I would say if you love the premise and the era, go for it because I’m pickier than most. It definitely had me changing up my playlist this weekend and remembering a time that blurs even in my own memory.
Three.five stars for Little Threats, a dark and disturbing novel about the murder of a young teenaged girl, Haley, and the effects of her murder on her friends, family and the town she lived in.
Kenneday is released from prison after serving 15 years for a murder she wasn’t sure she committed. No one around her is sure either, but they don’t like having the case brought to life again with her return home. And they certainly don’t feel comfortable around her!! The more flashes of memory Kennedy has about that time, and the more she talks with Carter, her twin sister, and other people she knew then, the more she’s convinced she didn’t kill Haley after all.
This is a slow-burner of a novel, with lots of secrets, grief, betrayals and pain. The ending left me bereft. “How could you!?!” I wonder if you’ll have the same reaction?
My thanks to NetGalley and GP Putnam and Sons who allowed me to read an ARC of this book. It is to be published 11/10/2020. All opinions expressed here are my own and are freely given.
Fifteen years ago privileged twins Carter and Kennedy Wynn, along with their friend Haley, embraced everything that defined the grunge era: partying, boys, and drugs. But after one acid-fueled night, Haley was dead and Kennedy had no memory of what happened, only that she woke up by her dead friend. Now, Kennedy is getting out of prison after serving her plea-bargain sentence.
Despite their parents faith, Carter Wynn isn’t convinced that her twin was innocent. While her sister has been in prison, Carter has tried to live in a community that looks at her and sees only her sister—and her sister’s crime. At thirty-one, Carter still has no career, no education, and no plan for what to do with her life. The one thing she does have is Everett, and although she can’t admit her true feelings for him, she can’t bear to think of losing him. But will their secret relationship be able to endure when Carter’s sister is released from her sentence for the killing of Everette’s sister?
Kennedy’s release brings to life old secrets and potential suspects, as well as a renewed interest in the death of Haley Kimberson.
Little Threats is a slow-building, dark whodunnit that expertly casts suspicion on several people throughout. It definitely has a slow build, but at some point you realize you’re too tied up in the storyline to turn away. The final reveal about who really killed Haley wasn’t as mind-blowing as I generally like, but it was still a satisfying conclusion.
*I received a copy of Little Threats from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*