Cruelty Free - by Caroline Glenn (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"Deliciously vicious and unsettlingly hilarious, Cruelty Free is a nasty, thrilling Hollywood take-down for the ages." --JENNIFER THORNE, author of Diavola

A disgraced movie star returns to Hollywood 10 years after the kidnapping of her young daughter intent on seeking revenge, for fans of Monika Kim and Rachel Yoder.

NOTHING FEELS BETTER THAN REVENGE.

Ten years ago, Lila Devlin was an A-list actress with a movie star husband and a beautiful baby girl, Josie. When Josie was kidnapped out of her home and never seen again, Lila's previously pristine public image twisted into that of an Unfit Mother. Driven mad by the hungry press, incompetent cops, and relentless true crime-obsessed "fans," she disappeared into anonymity.

Now, Lila Devlin returns to LA with a grand vision for a radical new skincare brand to reinvent herself and honor Josie's legacy. She's prepared to move into the next chapter of her life with forgiveness in her heart, when an encounter with a parasitic blogger ends with him dead. Lila suddenly discovers forgiveness isn't nearly as satisfying as a body hitting the floor.

With the help of her devoted publicist Sylvie, Lila begins a relentless, blood-soaked hunt through LA. Giving her skincare the edge it needs, they introduce a secret ingredient--revenge-sourced--from the bodies piling up. But as the company's success skyrockets and Lila begins unraveling the truth behind her daughter's kidnapping, her murderous side hustle threatens the life she's painstakingly rebuilt.

Both a striking portrayal of grief and womanhood, and a twisting, cynical satire on celebrity and toxic beauty standards, Cruelty Free is an ambitious debut from a talented star on the rise.

"Wildly twisted, razor-sharp, and ultimately heartbreaking, Cruelty Free is as much a novel about the fullness of grief as it is about the hollowness of vengeance." --LING LING HUANG, author of Natural Beauty

Review Quotes

"A fast-paced, deliciously gruesome send-up of Hollywood and the beauty industry." - People

"A twisting labyrinth of lies and betrayal, Glenn's brilliant plotting makes this book impossible to put down as its captivating and messy women characters barrel forward to a stunning conclusion. Fans of Virginia Feito and Monika Kim will delight in this weird feminist horror whodunnit." - Library Journal (starred review)

"Absolute madness in the funniest, scariest, most bonkers possible way." - Craig Mazin, screenwriter and showrunner of The Last of Us

"Wildly twisted, razor-sharp, and ultimately heartbreaking, Cruelty Free is as much a novel about the fullness of grief as it is about the hollowness of vengeance. Every moment kept me guessing, and I was so moved by the book's depiction of love and its ability to distort who we are. Glenn's book completely fulfills, and then upends the 'good for her' genre by asking if retribution and satisfaction are even possible for certain people and situations...if they can genuinely be good for her." - Ling Ling Huang, author of Natural Beauty

"Deliciously vicious and unsettlingly hilarious, Cruelty Free is a nasty, thrilling Hollywood take-down for the ages." - Jennifer Thorne, author of Diavola

"Equal parts twisted and gut-wrenching, Cruelty Free is like the best episode of E! True Hollywood Story you've never seen." - Ainslie Hogarth, author of Motherthing and Normal Women

"An absolutely stunning and visceral debut that pulls you in from the very first page. On the surface Cruelty Free is a revenge story with all the right twists and turns, but bubbling beneath that is a heartbreaking exploration of grief and the deep chasm that loss forms, which yearns to be filled at whatever cost. Glenn refuses to ask questions with kid-gloves on, instead begging the reader to fall down a psychological rabbit hole and scrape their knees along the way. A pulse-racing, unhinged page-turner that I simply could not put down." - Kirsten King author of A Good Person

"Cruelty Free is a topsy turvy odyssey that shocks and delights at every tilt. As soon as I thought I knew what this story was about, Glenn pulled the rug out from under me (a positive). This is a bloody, darkly funny treat with prose that cuts straight to the bone. I had a blast reading this!" - Sam Rebelein, Stoker-nominated author of Galloway's Gospel

"Marked by shocking scenes of revenge and memorable characters, Cruelty Free demonstrates how powerful and propulsive words on a page can be." - BookTrib.com

"This debut manages to be both a sensitive portrayal of grief and a gleefully blood-soaked rampage." - Booklist

"A twisting labyrinth of lies and betrayal, Glenn's brilliant plotting makes this book impossible to put down as its captivating and messy women characters barrel forward to a stunning conclusion. Fans of Virginia Feito and Monika Kim will delight in this weird feminist horror whodunnit." - Library Journal (starred review)