Good Me Bad Me

Starred review from July 17, 2017
When 15-year-old Annie Thompson, the unflinching narrator of British author Land’s chilling debut, tells the Devon police that her mother, Ruth, is a serial killer who preys on young children, the police arrest Ruth. Annie, who changes her name to Milly, moves in with the family of London psychologist Mike Newmont, who will help her prepare to testify at her mother’s trial. Saskia, Mike’s wife, knows Milly’s true identity, but the couple’s teenage daughter, Phoebe, believes that Milly is just an ordinary foster kid who’s monopolizing her parents’ attention. Milly attends the same school as Phoebe, who turns the other students against Milly in an effort to drive her away. Milly does her best to ignore the bullying, but the worse things get, the louder Ruth’s hectoring voice rings in Milly’s head, forcing Milly and the reader to question whether it’s possible to overcome both nature and nurture. A deliberate pace and a skillfully woven plot conspire to create a visceral read that’s at once a gripping psychological thriller and a devastating exploration of the damage wrought by childhood trauma. Agent: Sasha Raskin, Agency Group (U.K.).

August 1, 2017
Land asks if we are doomed to repeat the sins of our fathers--or, in this case, mothers--in her assured, creepy debut.Fifteen-year-old Annie has a new home in London--and a new name, Milly--now that she's turned her mother in to the police. Psychologist Mike Newmont, his troubled wife, Saskia, and their daughter, Phoebe, have taken Milly in until her mother's trial begins in 12 weeks. Only Mike and a few others know who Milly really is: the daughter of a nurse who murdered nine young children. Mike will be overseeing Milly's therapy until the trial and is eager for her to fit into his family. However, Milly, who narrates the book, senses that something isn't right between Saskia and Phoebe, and Phoebe, along with her friends, immediately starts a campaign of terror against the newcomer, whom she sees as an intruder in her family. Milly does find a friend in a younger girl, Morgan, who obviously has family problems of her own, but as the trial looms, Milly struggles to be the good person she longs to be even as the voice of her mother pushes her to give in to her darker urges. Can Milly find her own way, or is she a slave to her upbringing? Land, a mental health nurse, puts her knowledge to good use in her portrayal of Milly, who was raised by a sexually abusive monster who recruited her to play a role in her unspeakable crimes. A sense of creeping dread drives the narrative, and that most fascinating of crime-novel subjects, the female serial killer, casts a formidable shadow. Milly wages a war within herself that she may or may not win. Readers will be more than happy to go along for the ride and may be surprised how they feel about the conclusion, proving the unmistakable spell that Land has cast. Sly, unsettling, and impossible to put down.

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April 1, 2017

After letting the police in on a little secret--her mother is a serial killer and a child abuser, too--15-year-old Milly is given a new identity and placed with a posh foster family. Then her foster sister starts bullying her, a teacher apparently discovers her past, and a new friend seems way too enticingly vulnerable, and Milly's intentions to be good--unlike her mother--start to buckle. Lots of buzz for this debut novelist.

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