El Dorado Drive - by Megan Abbott (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize!

USA TODAY BESTSELLER

Named A Best Mystery/Thriller of 2025 by Elle and Crime Reads - An NPR 2025 Book We Love - A Best Book of 2025 by Library Journal

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Turnout comes a simmering, atmospheric novel of friendship and betrayal, following a women-led pyramid scheme in suburban Detroit.

"Abbott is a superstar of the suspense genre." --NPR

All I want is to be innocent again. But that's not how it works. Especially not after the Wheel.

The three Bishop sisters grew up in privilege in the moneyed suburbs of Detroit. But as the auto industry declined, so did their fortunes. Harper, the youngest, is barely making ends meet when her beloved, charismatic sister Pam--currently in the middle of a contentious battle with her ex-husband--and her eldest sister, Debra, approach her about joining an exciting new club.

The Wheel offers women like themselves--middle-aged and of declining means--a way to make their own money, independent of husbands or families. Quickly, however, the Wheel's success, and their own addiction to it, leads to greater and greater risks--and a crime so shocking it threatens to bring everything down with it.

Megan Abbott turns her keen eye toward women and money in El Dorado Drive, a riveting story about power, vulnerability, and how desperation draws out our most destructive impulses.

Review Quotes

The New York Times 31 Novels Coming This Summer
The Boston Globe's Best Books of Summer
Wall Street Journal's Summer Books to Get Lost In
Vulture's 28 Books We Can't Wait to Read This Summer

"As surprising and electrifying as a summer storm, El Dorado Drive deftly examines hope, need, greed and the complicated angles of sisterhood. It is suspenseful, beautifully written and, quite simply, exquisite." --Gillian Flynn, New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl

"Tense, chilling and beautifully written, El Dorado Drive is an absolute knockout." --Harlan Coben, New York Times bestselling author of Think Twice

"El Dorado Drive is a dizzying ephemeral journey where Megan Abbott confirms what many of us already knew. She is one the finest writers to ever put pen to paper in the crime genre. A rare tour de force." --S.A. Cosby, New York Times bestselling author of My Darkest Prayer

"The Queen of Noir takes on the world of multi-level marking and the darker side of life in the suburbs. 'Money was rarely about money.' So smart!" --People

"There's no one better at exploring the competitive dynamics of intense, female-only environments than Megan Abbott." --Elle.com

"Megan Abbott is a modern master, and I'll read anything she writes." --Washington Post

"Megan Abbott's most doom-laden novel yet . . . The spell of this smart, socially-pointed suspense novel lingers long after the Wheel's stash of cash--and one of its members--are no more." --NPR's Fresh Air

"Megan Abbott is my favorite suspense/crime fiction writer working today . . . Abbott packs more emotion and information into a single sentence than some writers can do in a page, making for and gripping reading experience." --Chicago Tribune

"Leave it to Megan Abbott to tap into the American zeitgeist and play on her readers' fears like a conductor leading a doomsday orchestra . . . Abbott delivers a revolting revelation that sets up a series of twists that propels the story to its inevitable, but no less satisfying, conclusion." --Los Angeles Times

"Abbott, a pro at exploring the underbelly of suburbia, mines the desperation of those both fallen from wealthy heights and mired in tricky family dynamics." --Boston Globe

"[Abbott] effortlessly excels at exploring the complexities of women's relationships with suspenseful, atmospheric storytelling. Unsettling and darkly clever." --Library Journal (starred review)

"The latest buzzy thriller from the always excellent author . . . Twisty and addictive, you can almost picture the Netflix documentary that will inevitably get made about these characters." --Paste

"[E]xplores themes of desire, psychosocial relations and sisterhood." --Wall Street Journal

"Abbott, a pro at exploring the underbelly of suburbia, mines the desperation of those both fallen from wealthy heights and mired in tricky family dynamics." --Boston Globe

"Abbott strikes gold again with this taut, suspenseful story . . . Another top-flight thriller from a genre master." --Booklist

"Abbott is among the most gifted stylists at work in crime fiction today, and she brings a poetic appreciation for flawed humanity to her new novel, which is as atmospheric and compelling as any of her best books." --Crime Reads

"The sense of danger simmers below the surface of El Dorado Drive as Abbott's superb plotting and character studies keep the story on point, making this one of the best novels of the year." --South Florida Sun-Sentinel

"[A] deeply emotional and convoluted tale about a group of women who are trying to repair their lives. Money can be quite a deadly problem to solve." --Dayton Daily News

"Megan Abbott strikes gold again . . . El Dorado Drive captivates from start to finish, and Megan Abbott's star continues to shine. The story promises shocking surprises in its early pages, and it delivers on multiple fronts, including a spellbinding denouement. Readers who enjoy a well-rounded and suspenseful mystery will enjoy this book." --Book Riot

"[A]nother stealthy-steely triumph from Megan Abbott, arguably the foremost living author of feminist noir . . . [It] gives readers the thrill of watching from a safe distance as characters face tough choices, make the wrong ones, and give every indication that they will do so again." --Shelf Awareness

"El Dorado Drive marks the first time that Megan Abbott has set a story within the confines of her hometown of Detroit. The result is a thriller that not only works well, but also holds up as a sobering mirror reflection of a once-mighty American city that is now trying to rebuild itself." --Bookreporter

"[A] nerve-shredding thriller. . . Abbott probes the minefield of sisterhood to harrowing effect, using staccato prose to amplify the inherent apprehension and anxiety of the siblings' relationships. The result is a tense and twisty delight." --Publishers Weekly

"Abbott is the queen of charged atmospheres, where a restrained surface often hides a torrent of deception." --Kirkus

"Abbott is one of the reigning queens of suspense and her latest promises to be another dark knockout." --Lit Hub

"If you're not reading Megan Abbott already, you need to fix that, fast . . . Her latest, a heady brew of female complexities, a cracked risk-versus-reward calculation, and more than a little desperation, proves--in darkly suspenseful ways--that still waters do indeed run deep." --Amazon Book Review

"Sisterhood and suspense -- the dynamic duo. A twisty, unexpected plot pairs with meaningful explorations of female friendship to create a read that is equal parts emotionally satisfying and propulsive." --Barnes & Noble, Best Books of June

"Megan is the reigning queen of feminist neo-noir that's equal parts brainy and suspenseful, and every single time she publishes a new novel it's an occasion." --The Maris Review

"Abbott's novels are exactly what I want to read during the summer (or really, any season): beautifully written page-turners embedded with razor-sharp insights about what it means to be a woman in today's world." --Rowan Beaird, WBEZ NPR

"Layer by magnetic layer, Megan Abbott reveals the story of a family coming undone beneath the paralyzing weight of material pressures. Abbott is a skilled storyteller and El Dorado Drive is a smart, twisty, and riveting family drama." --Karin Slaughter, #1 International and New York Times bestselling author of This is Why We Lied

"El Dorado Drive is a silky devious ride. It's suspenseful as all hell but also beautifully observed and filled with trenchant observations about the price of greed and the debilitating weight of modern womanhood." --Dennis Lehane, New York Times bestselling author of Small Mercies

"Sharp, shocking, beautiful and brilliant. El Dorado Drive is a thrilling, clever and powerful story of family, class, money and morality. Megan Abbott is a phenomenal storyteller." --Chris Whitaker, author of All the Colors of the Dark

About the Author

Megan Abbott is the Edgar award-winning author of eleven crime novels, including You Will Know Me, Give Me Your Hand and the New York Times bestseller The Turnout, the winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She received her Ph.D. in English and American literature from New York University and her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian, the Paris Review and the Wall Street Journal. Dare Me, the series she adapted from her own novel, now streaming on Netflix. Her latest novel, Beware the Woman, is now in paperback.