Megan Abbott is a seasoned, Edgar Award-winning author with exceptional gifts for making nerves jangle and skin crawl. She is also skilled at turning teenage sexuality into cause for squirming…The Fever is about a clique of high school girls who are harassed by strange, terrifying symptoms. This is not a book about rationally getting to the root of the problem; but about the eroticism and hysteria that run wild in a small town that has no idea what is consuming its young women…Few readers are going to be seriously drawn in by the drama of which high school kid has a crush on which other. It's the book's constant throb of horror that keeps it gripping.
The New York Times - Janet Maslin
04/28/2014
"The plot's myriad twists and turns, like the precarious pyramids the cheerleaders perfect, are intriguing and unexpected."
"If your image of high school cheerleaders is pretty, perky, healthy, wholesome young women, you may be shocked by the gritty, cutthroat, twisted world of cheer in Megan Abbott's sneaker-noir Dare Me ...Abbott knows how to build suspense, drop clues like gum wrappers on a gym floor, and blindside the reader. The twists are the fun part...Abbott is best in the nasty, manipulative dialogue, as Beth controls the squad with her vicious tongue, and in Addy's confused inner monologues, where she relishes any attention from Coach French...Some will be riveted by the complex resolution."
"Megan Abbott has been called the Queen of Noir...Her new novel, Dare Me , is something of a switch for Abbott in that it's about a cheerleading squad, though - trust us - it's still quite hard-boiled...A contemporary novel about a cheerleading squad that somehow manages to be as dark and sinister as any of Abbott's fiction."
"Dark high school thriller...Having won an Edgar for her 1940s-era femme fatale novel Queenpin , Abbott knows how to write a hard-boiled classic in the vein of Raymond Chandler. But what's exciting about Dare Me is how it makes that traditionally masculine genre feel distinctly female. It feels groundbreaking when Abbott takes noir conventions - loss of innocence, paranoia, the manipulative sexuality of newly independent women - and suggests that they're rooted in high school, deep in the hearts of all-American girls. She understands the intensity of female relationships, and she knows that some 15-year-olds can't be best friends until they're willing to destroy the competition."
"A compelling, compulsive read."
"Moody thriller...If cheerleaders scared you in high school, you'll finish the haunting Dare Me convinced you were right."
"A heady tale of high-school drama with grown-up stakes...Abbott's rendering of the power-plays, rites of bonding and twisted loyalties of teenage girls is pitch-perfect. As much as Dare Me is page-turning murder mystery, it is also an ode to the dark side of girlhood friendship and all its twisted loyalties."
"Make no mistake, this is no pulpy teenage tale: It's a very grown-up look at youth culture and how bad behavior can sometimes be redeemed by a couple of good decisions."
"Megan Abbott has cornered the 'dark desires of teenage girls' territory too, with Dare Me ."
"Megan Abbott, an Edgar-winning crime writer, drew inspiration from Lord of the Flies for her sexy and sinister new novel, Dare Me , which lays bare the cruel, confused longings of a group of high-school cheerleaders, and is the perfect way to forget yourself on a turbulent transatlantic flight."
"An increasingly addictive noir set in the world of high school cheerleading...Think Bring It On as reimagined by Christopher Nolan."
"Dare Me hurtles past the glitter and angst of high-school cheerleading, right to the bruising inner struggles of adolescence."
PRAISE FOR DARE ME :
"Lord of the Flies set in a high-school cheerleading squad...Tense, dark, and beautifully written."
★ 2014-05-07
"With The Fever , Megan Abbott has created a mesmerizing, modern portrait of teenage life today: Brutal crushes, competing allegiances and first-bloom sensuality, all magnified by the rush and crush of technology. The Fever holds true to its title: It's dark, disturbing, strangely beautiful and utterly unshakeable."—Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl "The Fever is a potboiler in the truest, best sense of that devalued word: Its ingredients are expertly combined, patiently agitated, and heated to an inexorable boil. But it's also a great novel, full stop, without any of the usual genre caveats, and I can think of no higher recommendation than that you'll want to read it twice: First insatiably, speeding through to find out just what's going to happen, and then again slowly, to savor the sharp, dare I say literary, insights about her characters that Abbott effortlessly scatters throughout."—Adam Sternbergh, Slate Gone Girl ?' sweepstakes.... [Megan Abbot has] exceptional gifts for making nerves jangle and skin crawl.... It's the book's constant throb of horror that keeps it gripping."—Janet Maslin, The New York Times The Fever . In a time when suicide and pregnancy pacts can go viral, this story of mass hysteria in a high school is not only completely plausible — it's impossible to put down."—Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of The Storyteller The Fever , one realizes that Abbott is setting a rhythm, one that's measured and paced with the brilliance of one of the best living mystery writers."—Kevin Nguyen, Grantland
"Once again, Abbott makes an unforgettable inquiry into the emotional lives of young people, this time balanced with parents' own fears and failings. It's also a powerful portrait of community, with interesting echoes of The Crucible : it's the twenty-first century, and, in many ways, we're still frightened villagers, terrified of the unknown. Abbott may be on her way to becoming a major writer."—Booklist (Starred Review) The Fever is a gripping and unsettling novel."—Hannah Tennant-Moore, The New York Times Book Review The Fever may be her best novel yet."—Los Angeles Times BuzzFeed Elizabeth Blair, NPR Kirkus (Starred Review) The Fever sends chills. Megan Abbott's 'high school noir' is sensual and sinister...atmospheric and compelling...What sets Abbott apart from other mystery scribes is her evocative language. There is drama and a fast-moving narrative, but she skillfully weaves a mounting dread into the novel, as well as a claustrophobic sensuality. You feel as if you're in the heads of each of the teenagers in the fictional town of Dryden, but also privy to the inner life of the adults, as well."— The Detroit News Dare Me , Abbott's new novel focuses on teenage girls and the damage they can do. . . . In spare, ferocious language, Abbott captures their energy. . . The beauty of Abbott's writing, and the skilled way she weaves the men's lesser narratives into Deenie's story, make this a standout in contemporary crime fiction. Megan Abbott knows what girls are made of."—The Boston Globe Good Housekeeping The Austin American Statesman Library Journal Entertainment Weekly DARE ME :Lord of the Flies set in a high-school cheerleading squad...Tense, dark, and beautifully written."—Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl Lord of the Flies for her sexy and sinister new novel,Dare Me , which lays bare the cruel, confused longings of a group of high-school cheerleaders, and is the perfect way to forget yourself on a turbulent transatlantic flight."—Maud Newton, New York Times Magazine Dare Me hurtles past the glitter and angst of high-school cheerleading, right to the bruising inner struggles of adolescence."—New York Magazine Sara Nelson, O, the Oprah Magazine Dare Me is page-turning murder mystery, it is also an ode to the dark side of girlhood friendship and all its twisted loyalties."—Mythili Rao, The Daily Beast Dare Me ."—Sarah Weinman, Salon Dare Me , is something of a switch for Abbott in that it's about a cheerleading squad, though - trust us - it's still quite hard-boiled...A contemporary novel about a cheerleading squad that somehow manages to be as dark and sinister as any of Abbott's fiction."—Sherryl Connely, New York Daily News
