Temper

Layne Fargo

Jul 2019 · Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

For fans of the high-stakes tension of the New York Times bestsellers Luckiest Girl Alive and The Lying Game, comes “a brilliantly paced thriller that gets under your skin in the best possible way” (Megan Collins, author of The Winter Sister) about female ambition and what happens when fake violence draws real blood.

After years of struggling in the Chicago theater scene, ambitious actress Kira Rascher finally lands the role of a lifetime. The catch? The mercurial Malcolm Mercer is the director and he’s known for pushing his performers past their limits—on stage and off.

Kira’s convinced she can handle Malcolm, but the theater’s cofounder, Joanna Cuyler, is another story. Joanna sees Kira as a threat—to her own thwarted artistic ambitions, her twisted relationship with Malcolm, and the shocking secret she’s keeping about the upcoming production. But as opening night draws near, Kira and Joanna both come to the realization that Malcolm’s dangerous extremes are nothing compared to what they’re capable of themselves.

An edgy, addictive, and fiendishly clever tale of ambition, deceit, and power suited for fans of the film Black Swan, Temper “revels in its mind games, delivering twist after twist as it races toward a Shakespearian climax. The final page will leave you gasping” (Amy Gentry, author of Last Woman Standing).

Ratings and reviews

Maybe it's me, but the number of books calling themselves psychological thrillers is much higher than the number that actually are. That's where I am with Temper. It is a drama, but I didn't find anything even remotely thriller-like. As far as the story, it's quite possible that this one went over my head, but I really didn't get it. We have a bunch of characters, none of which are particularly likable, having sex and hating on each other. Okay, I did get that part, I didn't really like it, but I got it. The story is also completely predictable, from the twists to the ending, which is one more reason I don't consider this one a thriller. All of that aside, I think I may have been able to get some reading enjoyment out of this one if someone had told me not to think for myself or ask why during the process. However, I did ask why, particularly where Malcolm was concerned. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why these women wanted him so badly, and why they tolerated his treatment of them. Whatever this mystery allure was, it didn't come through very well, at least not for me. In the end, I was left with a well-written story of unlikable characters that I couldn't find much interest in.

About the author

Layne Fargo is the author of the thrillers Temper and They Never Learn. She’s a Pitch Wars mentor, Vice President of the Chicagoland chapter of Sisters in Crime, and the cocreator of the podcast Unlikeable Female Characters. Layne lives in Chicago with her partner and their pets.