Keep This for Me - by Jennifer Fawcett (Hardcover)

About the Book

"One hot August night in 1993, a young couple go to a party. On the way home, their car breaks down and they are picked up by a truck driver who attacks the man and abducts the woman. She is never seen again. That woman was Fiona Green's mother. When the trucker, Eddie Ward, is caught, seven bodies are discovered in his back yard but Fiona's mother isn't one of them. And now, thirty years later, Eddie Ward has confessed on his prison deathbed that he didn't kill her. She disappeared into the lake. Fighting demons of her own, Fiona returns to the quaint lake-side town where her mother disappeared. But then something happens again: another woman, another road side breakdown, another disappearance. And the primary suspect is Jason Ward, Eddie's son. Jason Ward has grown up under the shadow of his father's crimes. The keeper of his father's macabre collection of trophies, he is haunted by the question will he become the same? Desperate for answers, Fiona hunts down the killer's family, unaware that she is being drawn into the trap that awaits her. Keep This for Me is about parents and children and the hurts we carry, and how one random act of violence can send ripples years into the future, affecting everyone in its wake"--

Book Synopsis

The acclaimed author of the "chilling, mesmerizing debut" (Rachel Harrison, author of The Return) Beneath the Stairs returns with a gripping, atmospheric suspense novel about a woman investigating a serial killer's connection to her mother's disappearance--for fans of I Have Some Questions for You and Notes on an Execution.

One hot August night in 1993, a young couple go to a party. When their car breaks down, they are picked up by a truck driver who attacks the man and abducts the woman. She is never seen again.

That woman was Fiona Green's mother.

When the trucker, Eddie Ward, is caught, a mass grave of bodies is discovered in his backyard but Fiona's mother isn't there. Thirty years later, on his prison deathbed, Ward insists that he didn't kill her, so Fiona finds herself back in the small town where her mother disappeared. Fighting demons of her own, she's shocked when history repeats itself: another woman, another roadside breakdown, and another disappearance. Only this time the primary suspect is Jason Ward, Eddie's son. Desperate, Fiona hunts down answers, unaware that she is being drawn into a dangerous trap.

With Jennifer Fawcett's signature "suspenseful and immersive" (Library Journal) prose, Keep This for Me is a fresh, spellbinding exploration of what we unwillingly inherit from our parents and how one random act can send ripples years into the future.

Review Quotes

"A serial-killer story that probes around the edges, exploring the reverberations of a horrific crime across generations. Beautifully written and absolutely riveting, Keep This For Me is a haunting work of literary suspense. I loved it." --Allison Buccola, author of The Ascent and Catch Her When She Falls

"Gripping and suspenseful, Keep This For Me centers on a brutal crime, its aftermath and whether those who remain can ever really escape its shadow. I was hooked from page one all the way to its shocking end." --Ana Reyes, New York Times bestselling author of The House in the Pines, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick

Fawcett's second novel is a compelling and complex story about motherhood, generational trauma, and small decisions that can have enduring consequences. There is a constant sense of foreboding, with the small-town setting adding another layer of tension and enough red herrings to keep readers guessing. Told from various perspectives and over multiple time periods, this heartbreaking tale will satisfy literary fiction and thriller readers alike. --Booklist (starred review)

"In her new suspense novel, Fawcett delves into the generational impact on two families after a hideous crime tears them apart. Told from multiple points of view, this is as much a character study as a suspense novel. For fans of Julie Clark and Megan Miranda." --Library Journal

Keep This for Me is a masterpiece--a stunning exploration of the darkest aspects of human nature and the emotional reverberations of violent acts. Fawcett deftly examines themes of family, motherhood, and childhood trauma, all through gorgeous prose and an enthralling mystery. You've never read a novel quite like this before." --Julia Bartz, New York Times Bestselling author of The Writing Retreat

"Keep This for Me is a suspenseful and hauntingly beautiful mystery about a woman's search for closure and the enduring ripple effects of violence. Like the lake at its center, this book's reflective surface hides fathoms below: churning currents of loss, trauma, and cold-blooded murder colliding to drag you down into its dark depths. It grabs you on page one and doesn't let go." --Luke Dumas, USA Today bestselling author of A History of Fear, The Paleontologist, and the forthcoming Nothing Tastes as Good

"Fawcett paints a vivid portrayal of not only the aftermath of violence, but also a heart wrenching portrait of the very real--and often misunderstood and misdiagnosed--state of postpartum neuroses. Deeply engaging and visceral, Keep This for Me was hard to put down." --Michelle Maryk, author of The Found Object Society (out next year)

"In her latest novel, Jennifer Fawcett has found the secret sauce: breakneck plotting and prose as lush and haunting as the lakeside setting. Keep This for Me is a gripping exploration of inherited violence--asking whether darkness is passed down or chosen-and anchors itself in the flawed humanity of heartbreakingly real characters. Raw and lyrical, this visceral ride through the wreckage one generation leaves for the next will captivate fans of Rebecca Makkai." --Sarah Crouch, USA Today bestselling author of Middletide

Praise for Jennifer Fawcett's debut Beneath the Stairs

"[Beneath the Stairs] reminds readers how easily a thought becomes a truth, how quickly a dream becomes a nightmare, and how unknowingly we ourselves can become haunted houses. . . . Fawcett's debut is both incredibly suspenseful and immersive. A word of caution to readers: leave the light on."-- "Library Journal"

"A novel brimming with menace and secrets, a haunting story of friendship and old betrayal that I devoured in one sitting. Fawcett delves into the complicated ties of teen girls against the backdrop of a small town and a strange house's sinister history. Atmospheric, cleverly constructed--the past meets the present in this gripping debut."-- "Karen Brown, author of The Clairvoyants and The Longings of Wayward Girls"

"A spell-binding horror story, where the terror comes not from ghosts, but from the haunted places we find within ourselves. A thoroughly engrossing and compulsive read."-- "Elizabeth Brundage, author of The Vanishing Point"

"In Beneath the Stairs, Jennifer Fawcett explores the lasting impact of childhood trauma in this metaphysical story about a house with buried secrets. An enthralling debut by a gifted storyteller!"-- "Wendy Walker, author of Don't Look for Me and All Is Not Forgotten"

"Jennifer Fawcett's Beneath the Stairs had me from the very first page. Tense, surprising, and utterly gripping, I loved this book!"-- "Karen Dionne, author of international bestsellers The Marsh King's Daughter and The Wicked Sister"

About the Author

Before writing books, Jennifer Fawcett was an award-winning playwright and cofounder of the theater company Working Group. She is the author of Beneath the Stairs. Born and raised in Canada, she spent a decade living in the Midwest before settling in the Hudson Valley. She holds an MFA from the Iowa Playwrights Workshop. Her plays have been published by Original Works and in Third Coast Magazine, Reunion: The Dallas Review, and in the anthology Long Story Short. Visit her at JenniferFawcettAuthor.com