The Award

Full-on brilliant, this sojourn into the groves of academe evolves into something totally dark and absolutely compelling. MFA grad David Trent is hanging around Cambridge cafes, reworking his novel for the umpteenth time, and lying to his fiance. It doesn’t help that his upstairs neighbor is Silas Hale, a renowned author who poses as a mentor when in fact he is nothing less than a monster who takes delight in torturing emerging authors (quite literally. In one of the funniest/most horrifying scenes, he refuses to supply David with any heat, despite it being winter in Boston.) But when David wins an award for his debut novel, everything changes, and even Silas is forced into welcoming his neighbor into the literary scene, albeit begrudgingly. From there, the novel, and David’s career, really take off. But enough from me. I refuse to let any of this devilishly satiric plot escape. Why take the fun away from other readers? Comparisons to Donna Tartt, Jean Hanff Korelitz, and Patricia Highsmith are inevitable. On my list of the top ten Best Books of 2025, this novel needs to be shared with a whole range of readers and enjoyed in book groups. They’ll be grateful.