The Rivals

The many fans of Jane Pek’s first book, The Verifiers, will be thrilled to get their hands on this new novel featuring the indomitable Claudia Lin. In this darker and tougher novel, with a robust comic streak and a deep foray into technology—featuring synths, the scary new generation of bots—Claudia can’t help but employ some espionage tropes as she investigates a corrupt matchmaking firm with the help of a corporate whistleblower. But there is plenty else to distract Claudia. Her family is falling apart at a prodigious rate; she is barely speaking to any of them. Romantic tensions are growing between Claudia and not one but two women, one of whom is the ever soignée Becks, Claudia’s one-time boss and major crush. Questions about sexual identity are sending these 20-somethings spinning in and out of the proverbial closet. While Inspector Yuan, a character created by Claudia, provides plenty of maxims throughout the text. Lots of fun, but also some real terror, in what is a brilliant depiction of New York City.