I enjoyed this very much! I didn't read Oates's debut novel, An Empty House, but will keep an eye out for him in the future. This was very interesting as it didn't clue you in to who was the "crazy one" until just about the very end. I let out a victory whoop after reading the clever epilogue. Very enjoyable read!

This was just “ehhh” for me, unfortunately - a bit too meandering and disjointed. Was good enough though that I *had* to finish, so I’d say 3.5 stars would be a sound review.
Thanks for the ARC opportunity!

This novel is an incredible example of using a trope (bad seed/child) and turning it on its head to
encourage deeper reflection and intrigue. If you enjoy deep character dives with a side of discomfort and drama, this is a novel you'll race through just as I did.

*Thank you to the publisher and #NetGalley for the chance to review this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review*

Perfect psychological thriller…I loved it. What makes someone a psychopath…a flaw in the design? You will love this in this in depth account.

Gil lives a quiet professor life with his family in Vermont. The sudden death of his sister and her husband uproots his existence and he and his wife take in their teenage orphaned nephew.

Matthew is incredibly rich, stoic and intelligent. It is hard to know what he is thinking or plotting... Is he grieving his parents, his NY life? Gil quickly becomes obsessed with finding the truth. This beautifully written story is a thriller with class, a true mystery to the very end. If you enjoy dysfunctional families, like tales of obsession or just want your thrillers to be literary, A Flaw In The Design is for you!
#Randomhouse. #penguin

I liked this! It was twisty and complicated and made you think about every word said by the narrator to understand if it was the truth, the truth as he understood it, or a flat-out lie.

Boasting a premise that promised more than it actually delivered, “A Flaw in the Design” is a psychological game of cat and mouse between a troubled 17 year old and the uncle who recently became his guardian. Right from the outset, I was drawn into the story, plowing through the book despite the sluggish pacing. But I found the uncle’s jealous attitude and negative fixation on wealth to be too much and too off putting, as well as a major detraction from my overall enjoyment. In addition, the plot twists just fell flat for me, offering no true surprises. Still, the story has its merits, but it’s not the edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller I was eagerly anticipating.

"Maybe he was an unhappy young man and not the spoiled jerk Gil had assumed."

This was difficult to get into at first. The writing style was just a tad off. But I'm so glad I stuck with it and kept reading because the story was riveting.

This novel was entirely character-driven. An eternal struggle between uncle and nephew. When Matt's parents die in a hit and run accident, their will left him under the guardianship of his uncle Gil. It was oddly surprising considering it was known Til did not like the boy and hadn't spoken to him or his parents in many years. Matthew is arrogant, spiteful, angry, rude . . . But is he evil as his uncle claims?

I loved the alternating truths in this tale. The way perspective changed things. Neither character was reliable or authentic. It was a good suspenseful mystery. However, I could have done without the run-on sentences and forever long monologues and descriptions. Yes, Girls was a writer so it made sense as it was told from his POV, but man, it got hard to read. Admittedly, I skimmed through the drawn-out parts.

Absolutely fantastic plot! Could not put the book down once I began reading it. Cannot wait for it to be released. Will recommend it to everyone I know!

Such a great book! Highly recommend it to others and I for sure will want to read any books by him again!

"Monsters are real, ghosts are real, too. They live inside us and sometimes, they win." (Stephen King)

Oh, Momma. I just climbed back down the ladder from an escalated terror high. What scares the stuffing out of me is real people people doing really bad things. You pass them on the street. You stand next to them in elevators or you sit cozily in the same row at the movies. And you don't ever make eye contact.......now that can, and will, make all the difference in the world.

Nathan Oates presents one kicker of a read here. It was a solid 4.5 Stars tossed up there with all the celestial beings of 5 Stars. It surely deserved that. A Flaw in the Design doesn't register a cover quite yet on Goodreads. But it deserves a mighty fine one.......a creepy fine one.

Gil Duggan, his wife Molly, and his two daughters, Ingrid and Chloe, live a quiet life in a small college town in Vermont. Gil is a professor at Essex College teaching fiction writing. He's even written a novel of his own some time back. They scrimped and saved for their present home that is definitely in need of repair. Just a little at a time.

But their lives are about to change drastically. Ho Hum will become Oh, Hell No with the turn of a lawyer's legal documents. Gil's sister, Sharon, and her husband were killed instantly from the impact of a truck slamming into their sportscar in New York City. The couple amassed a fortune while living in the Big Apple. They only had one son, seventeen year old Matthew. According to the Will, Matthew was to live in Vermont with Gil and Molly until he goes off to college at eighteen. Harvard or Yale.......all fully paid for.

Gil feels a punch to the gut upon hearing the news. These stacks of legal papers don't actually tell the full story of Matthew. Matthew was more than a handful growing up. He was prone to fits of anger and incorrigible behavior. Sharon went through nannies like all-you-can-eat pancakes.

But I'll save the description of an incident involving Matthew that occurred when the Duggans visited their extended family in New York City when the children were younger. Gil still can't release the unsettled feelings. It still haunts him.

Then comes the day when Matthew arrives at their home. Here stands a handsome young man with precise manners and a smile that warms Ingrid and Chloe. Matthew helps with preparing meals and the clean-up. He's even been taken with the family dog. Molly, an artist, is delighted with Matthew's knowledge of the art world. All seems well until it's not.

Matthew's academic ratings allow him to register for classes at Essex. Gil is surprised to see him sitting in his classroom at the college. Matthew fits in easily with the other students.

And it's at this juncture that Gil feels threatened by Matthew's presence in his territory. We'll begin to see a vast change in Gil's own behavior. Gil resents the fact that his wife and children have so easily welcomed Matthew into their lives. Gil constantly gives weight to every word and action from Matthew. He lives every moment in full-out fearfulness that "something bad is going to happen here".

Gil becomes obsessed. We'll also come upon some thorns in Gil's past life. Gil was not always the stable soul he appears to be in the present. Gil has taken to following Matthew in town and in trips to New York City. Can all this outlandish behavior demonstrate that Gil may be having issues of his own? And how will that affect his own family?

A Flaw in the Design is brilliantly written by Nathan Oates. He takes everyday people with everyday actions and pulls the strings tighter and tighter until the lines become so blurred that reality just pulls up a shaky stool in the dark. And are certain actions just a bridge too far? I'm telling you. This one requires your full attention......immediately, if not sooner.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Random House and to Nathan Oates for the opportunity.

A fast-paced cat and mouse game between an uncle, saddled with his psychotic orphaned teen nephew, and the aforementioned nephew who may or may not be playing with him. When Gil's sister and brother-in-law are killed in an accident he becomes the guardian for the nephew who he is convinced tried to kill Gil's daughter when she was younger. Is Matthew a psycho or is Gil misreading everything that is happening?

Gil really doesn't like his nephew. And yet, he's agreed to take Matthew in after his parents are killed in an accident. From the moment he picks him up at the airport, he's suspicious of the boy and dreads bringing him into his home. He's never forgiven or forgotten an incident involving Matthew that resulted in harm towards his youngest daughter.

Gil is the narrator and he is constantly judging Matthew's words and actions. Though the boy seems to have mellowed and is nice to his family, he refuses to trust Matthew has changed. He believes every smile is actually a sneer, everything he says and does has an ulterior motive.

Is Matthew truly dangerous or is Gil just paranoid? The tension never lets up as Gil attempts to constantly keep track of Matthew's whereabouts, certain he's up to something. Matthew also seems to taunt him by taking Gil's writing class and creating fiction that might be based on things he's done and could do.

Gil becomes desperate to prove Matthew is dangerous but every bit of possible evidence is circumstantial at best. Is Matthew a monster or is Gil blinded by the past? Gil doesn't come across as completely reliable and Matthew is never completely trustworthy. So you're never sure what to expect or just how far Gil will go to take his nephew down.

I read over 70% of A Flaw in the Design in one sitting then picked it back up the very next night and finished it. So I was definitely into it. Though you're along for the ride on Gil's one track mind, the story never lags or becomes boring. I was hooked from beginning to surprising end. I for one am hoping we get a sequel.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the e-ARC.

Edge-of-your-seat debut psychological thriller was an overstatement. This book dragged until the end. The situation that made the two families estranged was blown out of proportion.
The ending had a good twist that keeps you thinking about what might happen next.
I received this galley from NetGalley.

Wow! What a fab job by Nathan Oates! I was completely hooked from the very beginning. Literally wringing my hands and cussing a blue streak. The writing just pulled me in. Great characters, loved most of them but others may haves driven me crazy. Highly recommend
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

This was a great story.
A Flaw in the Design by Nathan Oates is cleverly layered, extremely entertaining and wonderfully written.
Oates delivers an entertaining, well-written, and absorbing read here that had me flipping these pages on my Kindle throughout the night.
I couldn’t read the book fast enough to see how this was all going to play out in the end.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Random House,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my blog, platforms, BookBub, B&N, Kobo and Waterstone closer to pub date.

A Flaw in the Design by Nathan Oates tells the story of Gil, a 40 something year old college professor living in Vermont with his wife and 2 teen daughters. Gil gets word that his sister and her husband have been killed in a car wreck. Even though they have been estranged for years she named Gil as her son’s guardian. Matthew is now 17 and has lived a very privileged, wealthy life.
Years ago when Gil’s daughters were much younger something bad happened. Matthew did something to one of the girls that was very dangerous and that caused Gil and his sister to not speak for many years. Gil is less than thrilled with having Matthew come live with him.
When Matthew shows up he seems completely different and very well behaved. Of course you know that’s not going to be the truth. Gil is determined to prove that Matthew is just as devious as he was when he was younger. He will do whatever it takes.
I really loved this book. It was a very fast read for me because I wanted to know what happened next. The characters of Gill and Matthew were very well done. This is one of those books where you get so frustrated when nothing goes the protagonist’s way. If you think you’ve got this book figured out, think again. I’ve never read this author before but I will definitely read his other books. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the advanced copy this book. All opinions are my own.

An unreliable narrator, multiple misinterpretations and a teenage orphan who may or not be a murdering sociopath combine to make A Flaw in the Design a compulsively readable thriller.

Gil, a college professor, his wife Molly and two daughters have a peaceful life in rural Vermont. Peaceful until Gil’s sister and her husband are killed in a traffic accident. Gil and his sister had been estranged for years after his younger daughter nearly drowned after (maybe) being pushed into a pool by Sharon’s son Matthew. Now Gil is responsible for Matthew, at least until he graduates from high school and goes off to Yale. Matthew moves in.

What happens next depends on who you believe. Is Matthew an evil manipulator who joins Gil’s creative writing class to tease him with essays that are fact disguised as fiction? Who uses his charm to convince Gil’s wife and daughters that he is an innocent victim of tragedy?
Or is Gil nearing a breakdown, raging at his students, following Matthew around town and beyond for no reason? There is a conclusion that provides all the answers. But then there is an epilogue…

This is Nathan Oates’ first novel and what a debut this is! Totally original and written to slowly build suspense, A Flaw in the Design is destined to be a movie. Oates’ descriptions of both characters and locations are so perfect that you can “see” the story as you read it. I look forward to seeing this on the bestseller list and reading whatever Nathan Oates writes next. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House and Nathan Oates for this ARC.

A Flaw in the Design is a psychological thriller that will make you scream as the apparent murderer seems to be constantly getting away with more misdeeds, insulence, and murder making the only wary party seem like a overly suspicious jerk. As the suspense and deceptions build, the clues laid out, an unexpected turn of events and the novel becomes one of my favorites.

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley. This book was great & I couldn’t put it down. Main character was definitely spiraling & I’ll admit it drove me crazy that he was so sure of guilt in his head but didn’t tell his wife or go straight to the detective instead of leaving casual emails and attempting to handle a psycho on his own. Overall though, an excellent read until the end where we are left completely hanging with no resolution. Hope there is a sequel…