I love a good spy novel, and Rachel Kushner takes the genre to a literary level, making it an excellent book. Sadie Smith is calm, calculating, and fearless. This is one to watch for and read as soon as it is published on September 3.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.

Amazing book. Yet another great one from Kushner. Cannot wait to read her next book, but prob won't get to do that for some time.

Another home run from Rachel Kushner, this time in the form a novel about an un-named freelance spy infiltrating an environmental activist cult in Europe. A cross between the Americans and the episode of SVU where Olivia Benson goes undercover with Earth First, the novel is spare and spooky and the narrator almost emotionless. The end is almost slapstick and a bit unsatisfying, but overall totally fantastic.

From the author of The Flamethrowers, comes a new novel about spies, communes and Neanderthals.

In Creation Lake we meet Sadie, a young American spy tasked with infiltrating a French commune of anarchists called Le Moulin. She is an ex FBI operative and she is incredibly talented. The question is whether she is righteous in her work. Sadie follows Lucien, via faux chance meeting in town into the commune, creating a love interest between them, but it's the emails from Bruno, the de facto leader of the group that moves the story.Kushner creates tension, interest and beauty in her spy story!
#Creationglake #rachelkushner #scribner

Not as interesting as Kushner's last two novels in my opinion. The narrator is a spy who infiltrates left-wing groups and sets them up for jail time. She's kind of a cipher, which is understandable in her line of work but off-putting as a reader. She reads the email missives from one of the guys who inspired the commune she's infiltrating, and I found those sections more interesting and kind of mystical. But overall I think Kushner's cool-girl shtick is running out of steam.

“Creation Lake” by Rachel Kushner is a dark thriller about an unscrupulous secret agent who is sent to seduce a “green Anarchist” who is part of a radical farming cooperative. It takes place in France and has commentary about the development of political groups through a backdrop of anthropology and communes. This is what I would call a highly intelligent novel with a seductive narrator. The book is beautifully written but for me it took a lot of concentration to finish it, thus my 3 star review.

Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I happened to be in France when reading Creation Lake, but Kushner's France in this novel -- a labyrinth of places (those caves), shadowy people (real and not), layers of time, seducers and seduced, and blurring of love and cruelty -- is far more than just wine and prettiness... of course. It's like she took undercurrents of French culture and history, both the best and worst, and spun them with her vintage coolness. Parts of the narrative are wide and rangy (such as all that rambling by Bruno and Sadia's fascination with it), and as the pieces begin to accrue, you're suddenly in the midst of something sinister, truly chilling, that you didn't see coming. A great read.

Kushner's latest is an anthropological, sociological, biological, psychological, philosophical reimagining of the classic crime novel -- a.k.a. the noir novel -- that is also very much a dark comedy, written very much in the vein of Paul Auster's classic NEW YORK TRILOGY and the film THE LAST SEDUCTION, with a seductive unreliable narrator -- "Sadie Smith" -- cast as the femme fatale, who is also Kushner's protagonist.

"Sadie" is a private undercover agent who needs to seduce Lucien Dubois so that she can get closer to Pascal Balmy, a childhood friend of Lucien's who happens to be the leader of a group of green anarchists known as Le Moulin, translated into English it means The Mill, disguised as a "radical farming cooperative." In order to better understand Pascal's and Le Moulin's environmental anarcho-philosophy, "Sadie" has been reading the group's emails with Bruno Lacombe, the group's spirit guide and "teacher." Readers will discover that there are layers to the narrative just as there are layers to "Sadie's" identity. Each layer is well excavated by the author.

What is truly remarkable book about the book is that Kushner is writing about the "real" France. Not the France that has been romanticized by ex-pat writers or Hollywood or romance novels. And the author's perspective of France is refreshing. Despite the setting, this is Kushner's most American book to date.

The book is part detective story, part social commentary. What makes this book so timely and relevant is that right now, there are all of these protests taking place on college campuses across the country. Parts of the book bring a smile to my face, while other observations have made me laugh out loud. Is this meant to be a subtle satire? Is she critiquing the revolutionary spirit of today, comparing it to the actions of the real revolutionaries of the sixties? Le Moulin's leader, Pascal, is nothing more than a former member of the bourgeoisie who is more interested in playing the role of counter-revolutionary while establishing a cult devoted to worshiping him and upholding antiquated ideas about the sexes and the roles men and women are supposed to play in social situations.

The prose is wonderful. The book is written in the first person and almost could be subtitled "A Confession" as it reads like she is transcribing reports into a coherent narrative while reflecting on her actions in this whole sordid investigation.

Fans of Hari Kunzru's Transmission, Dana Spiotta's Stone Arabia, or anything by Don DeLillo or even Lauren Groff's new eco-fiction will love Creation Lake.

I hate to say it but I just did not enjoy this book. It’s probably just me, but I found it supremely boring. The writing wasn’t terrible, but some of the cuts back and forth were just frustrating. There were parts of the story that was very interesting, where I found myself getting sucked in, but then I’d be met with another break of writing that was so boring and tedious that it just killed any and all momentum. A lot of people seem to enjoy this, so maybe still give it a try.

An interesting departure from Rachel Kushner's previous work, CREATION LAKE is an unexpected spy novel with some mystery and romance thrown in. A vast novel, mixing in a web of characters (especially those with lots of secrets!) Kushner is an incredible author and this is going to be a huge hit.

Creation Lake is certifiably American prose (humorous, sometimes full of itself, other times lethally intelligent, full of verve). The novel follows a body-enhanced, intelligent, cunning, and realist spy named Sadie Smith. Once in the FBI but now working in the private sector, Sadie is placed in the rocky terrain of southern France, where she works to understand and bring down a leftist commune of radical environmentalists and a passionate cave dweller named Bruno Lacombe. The novel flips between emails, past and present experiences in short and striking chapters in a technically flawless manner. It’s Kushner at her best; you can easily tell she had tremendous fun writing it.

Creation Lake is not run-of-the-mill spy/noir/espionage fodder. A typical spy novel is fast-paced. What this novel lacks in pace, it excels (like all Kushner’s works) in rich character study. Outrageously humorous and knife-edge sharp with one swoop, and then in other moments completely disarming and practical with profound musings on existentialism and navigating our depths in the modern world. Sadie’s keen observations, many through a filter of unapologetic American exceptionalism, as she does here comparing English to French:

For nuance and verve, English wins. We took a Germanic language and enfolded it with Norman French and a bunch of Latin and ever since we keep building out. Our words, our expanse of idioms, are expressive and creative and precise, like our music and our subcultures and our street style, our passion for violence, stupidity, and freedom.
The French might have better novels (Balzac, Zola, and Flaubert) and they have better cheeses (Comté, Roquefort, and Cabécou). But in the grand scheme that’s basically nothing. (pg. 258)

But there are other times when Sadie muses on human worth. There are many passages to enjoy over the 404-page novel, but here is one of my favorites. It also uses seemingly one of Kushner’s favorite words—milieu:

Love confirms who a person is, and that they are worth loving. Politics do not confirm who a person is.
People might claim to believe in this or that, but in the four a.m. version of themselves, most possess no fixed idea on how society should be organized. When people face themselves, alone, the passions they have been busy performing all day, and that they rely on reassure themselves that they are who they claim to be, to reassure their milieu of the same, those things fall away.
What is it that people encounter in their stark and solitary four a.m. self? What is inside them?
Not politics. There are no politics inside of people.
The truth of a person, under all the layers and guises, the significations of group and type, is a substance that is pure and stubborn and consistent. It is a hard, white salt.
This salt is the core. The four a.m. reality of being. (pg. 209)

Like Sadie, I am a stickler for details, times, and dates. My only gripe with the book, though ultimately a compliment about how detailed and deeply research-oriented Kushner seems to be (one of the reasons I appreciate her so much), is that the setting of this book is unclear given the information it decides to divulge about it.

There is plenty of reference to a popular Daft Punk hit, Get Lucky, from 2013, but then later, when Sadie mentions some of her handguns—the Glock43x and Sig Sauer 365—didn’t hit the market until 2018-19. Obviously, this is somewhat nitpicking the details, but they are details nonetheless. There is also a study about Neanderthals that Bruno references that came out in 2021 (though not given a date in the book). This bouncing around is a small price to pay. On top of the beautifully complex person that is Sadie Smith, in the overwhelming blanketing of French summer heat, anyone can become a slightly unreliable narrator. ;)

Despite her well-deserved praise and accolades, Kushner remains criminally underread and underappreciated. Given the images and cinematic nature that Creation Lake works with, I will jump the gun entirely and say I wouldn’t be surprised if this gets adapted. Maybe she’ll work with another one-of-the-greatest-living-American-authors and close friend, Ottessa Moshfegh, to do the screenplay.

Creation Lake debuts September 4th. I am looking forward to getting it in my hands.

Thank you so much to Scribner and NetGalley for giving me this opportunity. As this is the first ARC I’ve ever read, I am thrilled and astonished that it happens to be from an author I cherish and admire so much. And thank you, Rachel Kushner!

only rachel kushner could make me care about a spy novel!!!!! genius mode once again from the queen!

The only other book I have read by Rachel Kushner is The Hard Crowd, her essays book, I have not read any of her other fiction books. The way she interweaves fact and fiction in this book works for me and does remind me of her essays. She reminds me of Hari Kunzru, another author who blends interesting facts (to me) into the narrative. Stories from conversations or history even going back to the origins of humans which resonate with me personally. Also the sense of it all being a bit hopeless by the end, almost metaphysical. ‘To love the shiny driverless car headed toward extinction, and to presume that the technological prowess that had designed the car could design a viable future, solve the nihilism of progress with yet more progress.’ I loved it.

Kushner has done it again!!!! I found the way the story shifts between chapters engaging, and an innovative way of releasing information. I can't believe Kushner has done a "spy" novel? Anyway, a fun thrilling read with pitch-perfect prose. Can't wait for the next Kushner.

While this book wasn’t really my usual kind of read, I have to say that the writing style was excellent and brought me into the world of noir. I dig the vibe more than the plot, and found myself more interested in the side plots and tangents rather than the main story. Was still an entertaining read with great prose, just not my thing.

Another mesmerizing novel by Rachel Kushner. The story her characters her words I was immediately drawn into their world.As with her other novels I will be recommending.#netgalley #scribner

Gorgeous writing with just the right amount of tension, intrigue, and ambiguity.

"Sadie" is an American spy with a determined yet detached demeanor. Her assignment is to get close to a group of environmental activists in France to see what they are planning (or maybe to nudge them to take action)...

I thoroughly enjoyed Sadie's introspection, humor, and narration of events. I was not as enamored with Bruno's emails as Sadie was but loved how they were woven into the story. Overall, this was a captivating and entertaining read.

Thank you very much to Scribner and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

Stunning! Enthralling! Provocative! Such a delight to read and contemplate the ideas in this book. Makes me want to re/read everything else by RK. Highly recommend!

Whether it is power, money, politics, environmental issues or just revenge, a spy for hire must put aside personal feelings and focus on completing her assignment. That’s it, or not! Kushner did a great job of creating an FBI undercover agent, unable to deliver her mark and fired, who became a freelance operative.

Sadie, as we know her, plays a long game to eventually become embedded within a commune of ecoterrorists trying to protect the environment in the French countryside. Her mission is to find out whether they plan to become violent and if not, plant seeds to insure a violent outcome. Sadie has also been given a name, Bruno Lacombe, an activist, possible mentor of the group who has not been seen for decades. Sadie hacks into emails he has sent the group and these emails take the book in a separate but equally important direction.

Bruno, who has become a cave dweller, believes that man has destroyed the world and that the way to salvation is through returning to primitive times. Through his communications, Sadie, very much a realist, becomes enamored of his view of humanity and the creative tales he weaves. How will this affect the person she is?

The juxtapositions of past, present and possible future have not only Sadie re-examining everything but also the reader. This could have been a superficial spy novel, Kushner gave her characters complexity. Also, tthe book could have been preachy, Kushner made sure it wasn’t.

Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for this advance copy. All opinions are my own.
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A wonderful synthesis (thematically and narratively) of Kushner's previous novels and one that ranks as one of her best to date.