Five stars all the way! What a fun book about rich people behaving badly. The book comes from many characters’ point of view and is set in a small very upscale town in Connecticut. It’s definitely raunchy and has themes of sex, drugs, murder and infidelity. In other words a great beach read!

Next To Heaven is a diabolical and fun read. It is Real Housewives meets true crime. I found myself sneaking away to read pages of this because I couldn't tear my eyes away. I think this book is a perfect read for a getaway trip. I found the plot and characters to be very juicy.

Thank you to James Frey, Authors Equity, and Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

I absolutely love this writer!

What a twisted group of people who are not happy with anything until they are and then they are not.
Fortune---Betrayal...Crime.... Murder. Does money ruin lives? It is a twisted story till the end.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy.

Another fantastic read by James Frey!

He always knows how to pull you in within the first few sentences of the book and doesn’t let you go!

It was a story I didn’t expect and it totally worked! Some characters were really messed up and some your heart ached for. You hated and you laughed too!

You always see the exterior lives of rich people and that is what they want to show you. But what goes on behind the scenes when they get bored or their marriages aren't what the facade shows is what always makes things a little more interesting.

The ending you think you see coming , but do you really?

An excellent read for any and all readers! Author comes at you with both barrels and knocks you out of your shoes! Great job fleshing out all the characters. I give this book FIVE stars! Definitely recommend!

I’ve read three books by James Frey, so I was eager to read this advanced review copy. I couldn’t decide whether I loved it or loathed it, but in the end, I’ve settled on loving it—I’ve been thinking about it a lot and I think this is a sign of an excellent book! I disliked many of the characters, but I believe that was the point, as many of their conversations were superficial and materialistic. The book captures this shallowness brilliantly, making it a gripping read. I certainly wasn’t expecting a swingers' party!

Frey’s writing is what drew me in—it’s precise, punchy, and richly detailed.

I received an ARC from NetGalley, and this is my honest review.

I can't post a review because I did not finish this book. It was just too icky for my liking. I'm sure some are okay with the gritty-ness of this kind of thriller but not me. I was drawn in to each characters lives however and thought the author did a really good job at fleshing them out and really giving them life.

A pure way to indulge in a novel. I was intrigued and into this story from the beginning. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. It's a five star book!

Debauchery among the elite? One percenter secrets coming to a murderous head? Sounds like a fun time. The blurb gives you just enough to be interested, and the first sentence is definitely eye-catching. The first chapter was great, but then one or two chapters later it's just this boring history of this heaven adjacent town for 17,000 of the most beautiful, richest, most Christian people in the country. I'm usually pretty open to lengthy description, especially world building, but this chapter is likely as effective as melatonin for an insomniac. Following that are only more lengthy character stories. Which, again, isn't something I'm opposed to, but I cannot get over some of the word choices for character descriptions being repeated three to twenty times in a matter of pages (probably more later, if this weren't a DNF). We've got Ms.Fancypants, Beefcake, snortiest snort, wacky tobaccy, hanky-panky horizontal refreshment, and those are just the most irritating ones found over 18% of the story. The author is also a bit repetitive, saying, "...and her mother, Jen, was a nurse," only to repeat this sentiment a few sentences later, "he had just started dating Grace's mother, Jen, his future wife." Maybe it's the ARC but there are many grammatical errors (or maybe Frey just hates commas) where things are just these unsatisfactory lists of things. From what I've gathered, everybody in this story either came from nothing or came from a family close to nothing because of, *checks notes* laziness, and while all the couples once had vigorous, lively sex lives they now have crumbling relationships. Every couple has the same makeup and, years later, is in the same general place of being unhappy. I couldn't even make it to an interesting point of the story before deciding this was going to be a DNF. All tell, no show. Everybody's some slight variant of the person before. And the writing isn't for me. I should have trusted my instincts when, despite the description, genuinely questioned the cover. You win some, you lose some. And this just isn't for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for this e-ARC.

I love how Frey starts his story. Generally, it's rare for a quote to truly set the scene for me, but this one was just perfection:

"Behind every great fortune, lies a great crime."
— Honoré de Balzac

In Frey's fictional town of New Bethlehem, Connecticut, there’s incredible wealth, massive homes, and country club drama. He immerses us in this world, then peels back the layers to reveal its dark, twisted underside—highlighting a series of deeply flawed characters and the aftermath of an infamous key party gone wrong.

There’s no shortage of wild drama, power plays, and cat-and-mouse tension, but what makes Next to Heaven so compelling is its dark humor and absolute chaos. Frey leans into the absurdity of privilege and deception, crafting a story that’s equal parts entertaining, biting, and ruthless. If you love stories about the rich behaving badly—with a sharp, satirical edge—this one delivers.

#NextToHeaven #JamesFrey #AuthorsEquity

Set in the fictional town of New Bethlehem Ct. The seemingly idyllic paradise where the 1% of the upper 1% live.Frey reveals the underlying lives of his principal characters revealing corruption, meanness, deceit, immorality, jealousy and self-destructive behavior.The central event is an elite “ swinger’s party”conceived and hosted by two women of the highest social standing, best friends Devon Kensington McCallister and Belle Hedges Moore, both in unfulfilled unhappy marriages. The resulting gruesome murder of one of the “ swingers” town golden boy Alex Hunter, results in an investigation and arrest and life sentence of Billy McCallister, who is in reality innocent of the crime. Well written, a GREAT GATSBY for the present age, would have liked a more in depth presentation in the second half, but quite enjoyable.

An excellent read for any and all readers! Author comes at you with both barrels and knocks you out of your shoes! Great job fleshing out all the characters. I give this book FIVE stars! Definitely recommend!

This was was a bit slow and kind of wordy for me I guess it wasn’t one for me!! I know of don’t like books that’s seem like someone else is telling the story other than the. Characters them self

Another amazing story from one of my favorite authors. As always he gets you hooked from the first line. A big thank you to Netgalley and the publisher as well as Jame Frey for an eARC copy. All in all another crazy ride and a joy to follow.

I enjoyed this book. It is a little all over the place and sometimes hard to follow. There are a LOT of character viewpoints which was a little confusing at first but tied it all together nicely at the end. The ending was a great twist! The murder doesn’t happen until 75% through, so it is a bit of a slow burner, but really develops the characters.

Haters will say, "oHhHhhh NeXt tO HeAvEn IsNt A gOoD bOoK!" just because, technically, it isn't. BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT ISN'T GREAT. Mfs will say "omg I hated Next to Heaven" but then go bingewatch a season of Real Housewives. It's messy, over-the-top, teetering on the edge of ridiculous... but that's also kind of the point??? Frey delivers a spectacle of wealth, debauchery, and moral decay that reads like Great Gatsby if Fitzgerald was less concerned with subtlety. Plot? Chaotic. Characters? Terrible people. Writing? Um... actually pretty sharp, but fully committed to the insanity. And yet, I devoured the whole thing in one sitting. It had everything: drama, intrigue, delusion, sexual tension, and a murder that barely scratches the top five worst things that these people do. So no, it's not good. But also yes it is.

Thank you to NetGalley and Authors Equity for the advance copy.

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well dang james frey continues to show me that he can write a captivating story.

something i love about frey’s books is they feel like real stories of real people (they probably are). the characters are easy to connect to. the story feels like watching a reality show unfold.

i love how frey gives just enough information about the location (new bethlehem) to provide meaningful context to the story without making it boring.

also loved that i can see parts of frey in some of the characters (charlie).

i read bright shiny morning when it was released years ago while i lived on the east coast. i was moved by the story. i was devastated by the story. i was attached to the characters in the story. but i had no context for life in/around LA. i moved to LA years later and re-read the book and i couldn’t help but feel like james wrote about several people that he had experienced or known. and that’s how i feel about this book.

several times while reading, i had to actively remind myself that these were characters and not my friends.

james’ writing style has always been something that captivated me, so i deeply loved this book because his style and voice is once again so prevalent throughout.

and not to mention... the ending slaps.

6/5 stars

This didn’t quite hit the mark for me, a little all over the place and I didn’t know where we were going with anything. I loved a million little pieces by Frey but the fictional stories are not quite up to par.

This book reminded me of a Jackie Collins book, I liked it. I've read all this author's books, wish there were more!

A huge fan of Frey’s writing style, I flew through this one and of course loved the thinly-veiled depiction of our little town in Connecticut.
The character development is spot on and the cast of characters runs the gamut from an imploding “small town hero” to a typical “closer” to a washed up “hockey pro”.

Since we moved here, I’ve always heard references to the “key” parties from the 1970s so I love that the culmination of these fractured relationships takes place at a not so random swingers party, full of booze, drugs, & sex.
With so many dominant personalities, layers of jealousy and revenge-no wonder it ends with a murder.
Dig in and hold on tight friends, you won’t be able to put this one down!