THEY NEVER LEARN

5 stars out of 5

Oh my goodness - this one will be close to the top of

my five favorite books for this year. Put another way, wow! Not that I'm all that surprised, mind you; the author's 2019 book, Temper, was a 5-star hit with me as well. This one, IMHO, is even better; I'd give it 6 stars if it were possible.

The story involves two primary characters: Dr. Scarlett Clark, an English professor at Gorman University, and Carly Schiller, a freshman at the same school. They are similar in one respect - Scarlett literally has been getting away with murder for years while Carly, the daughter of a mentally abusive father, is considering it as an option when she seeks revenge on her roommate's attacker.

Chapters flip back and forth between the two, highlighting what's going on in their lives (and trust me, it's plenty). Scarlett is intent on winning a hotly contested fellowship in London as she lines up her next victim; Carly is tentatively trying to make friends with her troubled roomie Allison, whose temperament shifts from hot to cold in just about every imaginable way. When Allison is assaulted at a party, Carly takes it personally and vows to get even.

But then, Scarlett makes rather a mess with her newest victim - mistakes that could lead investigators right to her doorstep. Compounding the issue is that a colleague, Dr. Mina Pierce, has compiled a list of past campus-related deaths (most of which were deemed accidents or suicides) and is enlisting help from colleagues with her personal investigation. Scarlett is worried and does her best to make friends with Mina, if for no other reason but to keep tabs on the woman's findings.

Everything else is a whirlwind of action, with a major (and totally surprising) reveal somewhere around the mid-point and an almost equally surprising ending. The whole thing felt like a roller-coaster ride, right down to disappointment when it came to an all-too-soon end. In short, this one falls into the don't-miss department - and I heartily thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me the thrill of reading a pre-release copy. 

They Never Learn by Layne Fargo (Gallery/Scout Press, October 2020); 352 pp.