Adam Rapp is a masterful writer. He is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award winning novelist and playwright. His skill at entering the mind of ordinary people and psychopaths makes the book both enormously compelling and deeply disturbing. While I’ve read other books that describe this type of family interaction, Rapp’s attention to detail and insight is truly on another level. He intersperses real events with the characters he creates as they move through their lives. You read in vivid detail how siblings raised in the same environment can develop so differently. Myra, the oldest of six (including Fiona, Alec, Joan, Lexy and Archie) brings hope and life to this large Catholic family as they each face obstacles in life, never being far from murder and loss. You won’t be able to put this book down until you reach its conclusion. With thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown and Company for this ARC. My opinions are my own. #AdamRapp

"Wolf at the Table" by Adam Rapp is a harrowing multigenerational saga that blends elements of "The Corrections" and "We Need to Talk About Kevin." Set in late summer 1951 in Elmira, New York, the story revolves around the Larkin family, specifically thirteen-year-old Myra Larkin. Myra encounters a young man whom she believes to be Mickey Mantle, and this chance meeting becomes significant when a triple homicide occurs near their home that same night.

The repercussions of this violent event haunt the Larkin family for decades as the siblings leave home to pursue their individual versions of the American dream. Myra becomes a prison nurse while raising her son, Ronan. Her sisters, Lexy and Fiona, find themselves on opposite sides of class and power. Alec, once an altar boy, is banished from the house and drifts into a life of loneliness. As Alec becomes increasingly isolated, his mother starts receiving postcards with ominous messages, leading to a shattering revelation and devastating reckoning for the family.

Through the lens of one family's pursuit of the American dream, "Wolf at the Table" delves into the consistent proximity to violence and its enduring effects over time. Adam Rapp, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, writes with gorgeous acuity, exposing the reality beneath the veneer of a seemingly good society. The novel explores themes of family dynamics, violence, and the impact of trauma, offering a gripping and thought-provoking narrative.