I did not know this was the sequel to The Plot. I did not read that but now I must! This was a great book! I will say I was in a the dark about a few things though. I liked Anna a lot and the writing of this book is amazing. I read it in two days.

This is another page-turner from Korelitz, a follow-up to "The Plot". I liked this book a lot, with my only criticism being a bit too repetitive in the first 40% of the book. Couldn't wait to find out who the mystery person was!

I can honestly say, Jean Hanff Korelitz never ceases to amaze me with her brilliant mind and creative storytelling skills. I loved her preceding novel “The Plot,” and I enjoyed its sequel even more, even though the characters in the beginning admit that most sequels are not as successful as the first books. But this book exceeded my expectations.

I advise you to read “The Plot” first, which introduces us to Jacob Finch Bonner, a struggling author teaching writing at a community college. He stumbles upon a student's story plot, a brilliant idea that may open up the doors of literary success for him. When he finds out his student is dead, he decides to use this plot idea to write his own bestseller novel. As expected, this novel turns into a big success, but with a horrible cost—someone anonymous knows his big secret and is determined to make him pay. If you read the first book, you'll learn the big twist of how Jacob and his tormentor's cat-and-mouse game concludes.

Yes, Jacob is dead, his death ruled as suicide, and his poor widow Anna Williams-Bonner just inherited his wealth, house, and royalty checks from his bestseller, including the movie adaptation rights of “Crib.” But it might be a fair agreement according to her, considering the book’s main story was inspired by her real life.

Our villain/anti-heroine does something unexpected. Instead of grieving or spending her late husband's hard-earned plagiarism money, she decides to write her own novel. In her opinion, it wasn't even that hard! (I know all the authors reading this are booing the character, fictionally throwing tomatoes at her face.) The interesting part is she wrote the novel, and it turned into a huge success! Now she's playing the role of her late husband, attending a book tour, meeting fans, and signing their copies. But when she receives a suspicious post-it note about her late brother, she realizes someone has connected the skeletons in her closet to the dead people she left behind.

When she gets another manuscript eerily similar to her real-life story, she decides to return to Ripley College, the place where her dead brother's and her dead husband's paths crossed, to question people in their inner circle and catch her anonymous tormentor. Will she catch the person and destroy the evidence, or will she lose her cat-and-mouse game this time?

When a person has nine lives like Anna, she doesn't risk anything to destroy the perfect life she's built. So let the game begin!

Overall, it’s a smart, well-executed, meticulously written novel that wraps up some holes and unanswered questions from the first book in a realistic way! It’s an unconventional perspective on an anti-heroine and her riveting survival story. If you enjoyed the first book, you shouldn’t miss the sequel!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for sharing this marvelous book’s digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

In this sequel to THE PLOT, in the previous book professor Jacob Finch Bonner was accused of plagiarizing his hit book. He has died and his widow, Anna Williams-Bonner is on a publicity tour for his final book.

Then she tries her hand at writing and publishing (and, because of Jacob’s renown, sidesteps any difficulties with getting an agent or publisher) and she is thrilled to receive acclaim for her own book. Then she begins to receive portions of a novel which shouldn’t exist that show that someone has knowledge about her late brother, her husband and likely her.

“First of all, it wasn’t even that hard,” a great first line that is a lovely slap at her late husband and at writers in general…and so reflective of the character that is Anna Williams-Bonner, a woman with interesting motivations. This is a fun read, with lots of good name dropping, and I loved the chapter names. I always enjoy this author when I read her and this is no exception….definitely a worthy sequel. Recommended.