You Will Know Me

August 29, 2016
Ever since their teen daughter, Devon, hinted at a special talent for gymnastics, Katie and Eric Knox have spared nothing to get her whatever she needs to qualify for the Olympics. When the novel opens, Katie is beginning to wonder if they have given up too much. Her doubts increase when a family friend is killed by a hit-and-run driver in a car that seems similar to Eric’s. Reader Fortgang catches every subtle mood shift of Katie’s, from her delight at Devon’s ability to her fear that events, real or imagined, will derail her daughter’s progress. Eric usually sounds uptight and anxious, and when he and Katie are alone, a little furtive. Devon is brimming with entitlement, impatience, and intolerance. Her fellow gymnasts are humorless, snarky, soft-spoken or arrogant. All are almost as driven as their parents, for whom Olympic excellence is all that matters in their lives. A Little, Brown hardcover.

Starred review from May 2, 2016
Thriller Award–winner Abbott (The Fever) takes a piercing look at what one family will sacrifice in the name of making their daughter a champion. For Katie and Eric Knox, nothing is more important than ensuring that their 16-year-old daughter, Devon, has everything she needs to pursue a possible Olympic berth in gymnastics, from round-the-clock training with coach Teddy Belfour at BelStars Gym to a plethora of high-performance leotards and hand grips. Despite a childhood foot injury, Devon is the obvious star of the gym, something the other parents both appreciate (because it raises BelStars’s profile) and quietly resent (because it makes their own daughters look second-rate). When an unexpected death rocks the gym community, Katie is determined not only to shield her daughter from the fallout but also to make sure that Devon’s elite trajectory doesn’t falter. But she can’t help being inexorably drawn to the tragedy and the young man who died, and in the process Katie learns that what she thought she knew about Devon only scratches the surface. Abbott keenly examines the pressures put on girls’ bodies and the fierce, often misguided love parents have for their children. Agent: Dan Conaway, Writers House.

Starred review from May 15, 2016
Abbott's latest thriller (The Fever, 2014, etc.) about everyday lives changed forever by an exceptional individual--in this case an Olympic gymnastics hopeful. "So many things you never think you'll do until you do them." This speaks volumes of truth for Devon Knox, who forces her body to pick fights with gravity for hours every day. To her mother, Katie, watching from the bleachers, it seems impossible that her daughter will land on her feet, until she does. Devon is extraordinary, and the normal-on-the-surface Knox family can't help but fly toward this one extra-bright light. Devon's dad, Eric, is obsessively devoted to the cause, fundraising constantly for gym BelStars and heading up the booster club. Gregarious Coach T. relies on his star gymnast to attract business; nothing is shinier than having an Olympic hopeful under his wing. But when tragedy strikes and Coach T.'s tumbling-coach niece, Hailey, learns her much-loved boyfriend, Ryan, is dead in a hit-and-run--only a couple of months before Elite Qualifiers--the gym begins to unravel. Devon, especially, can't afford any missteps. Her success relies on structure, and Eric promises he'll do anything to keep Devon on that golden track. When Hailey starts threatening Devon and the Knoxes' painfully sweet and observant son, Drew, starts talking about things he hears in the night, the whole gym family, Katie especially, begins to wonder just who might've had it in them to mow Ryan down. After all, you never know what you're capable of until you test your limits. With Elite Qualifiers looming, readers will begin to question what they think to be true right alongside the characters. Getting picky, readers will also catch on to one major plot element well before it's revealed, but Abbott makes the blindness of parents relatable; they come close to collapse on a regular basis from the pressures of their demanding schedules. Being a parent is hard. Being a parent to an anomaly is something else entirely. Abbott proves herself a master of fingernails-digging-into-your-palms suspense.

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November 1, 2016

Devon Knox, 15, is a brilliant gymnast and far more talented than the other girls training at BelStars gym. Her path to success could lead to the Olympics. Everyone knows it-all the other gymnasts, all the coaches, all the booster parents, and, most especially, Devon's parents. Her mother, Katie, dedicates her afternoons to sitting in the stands at BelStars, soaking up the envy of the other mothers as Devon flies over the vault. It's Katie who shows how secrets, betrayal, and murder can shatter the tight-knit group of girls and parents. At first, Katie seems like a well-balanced narrator, fair-minded in her attitude toward those with less amazing daughters, tenderly caring for Devon's little brother when he becomes ill. But readers notice that Katie seems to be missing some obvious signs of trouble. Katie discovers Devon, remote and self-contained by nature, in a cat fight with another girl in the locker room. Katie's husband, Eric, spends way too much time with Gwen, a wealthy booster mom. Even as the narrator increasingly suspects disturbing secrets, readers increasingly wonder how much to trust her. Abbott, who put a menacing spin on the world of cheerleading in Dare Me, amplifies the sense of danger implicit in high-stakes gymnastics, as well as the competition among the highly invested parents. Think Dance Moms, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. VERDICT Teens will get a hard-hitting look at competitive gymnastics, framed in a tale of gripping psychological suspense.-Diane Colson, Gainesville City College, FL

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 1, 2016
Teen gymnastics prodigy Devon Knox has excelled despite a childhood lawn-mower accident that left her with a Frankenfoot, as her mom, Katie, our third-person narrator, regrets calling it. Devon thrives because of her intense drive and single-mindednessand because her parents have focused the family's entire existence around helping her succeed. Yet as Devon prepares for a second chance at Elite Qualifiers (she failed the first time when her ankle wobbled), her Olympic dream is in turmoil: a much-loved young man has been killed in a hit-and-run, beloved Coach T. loses focus when his niece is suspected, and, worst of all, Katie suspects her husband, Eric, is involved. Abbott has a knack for dissecting the dark, beating heart of the most all-American activity. Her Dare Me (2012) brought a Fight Club intensity to cheerleading, and here she captures ripped palms and the muscle-bound physiques that attract the cruel taunts of classmates. But this equally dazzling tale is set not in the teens' world but rather in the adult boosters' strange tribe, exploring the agony and urgency of their desire, the unknowability of others, and the burden of expectations laid on the gymnasts. It's vivid, troubling, and powerfuland Abbott totally sticks the landing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

Starred review from May 1, 2016

This latest novel from Abbott (after The Fever) centers on a young man's hit-and-run death shortly before a major gymnastics competition, ripping apart that sport's close-knit community. Immersed in her life as an Olympic hopeful, 15-year-old Devon Knox is in a tailspin. Her mother, Katie, goes into protective mode and attempts to salvage her family from ugly rumors involving her husband and questions about the boy's tragic end. Trying to keep her daughter's dream alive at any cost, Katie is as much a focus of this story as Devon. In true Abbott style, nothing is predictable here; the plot consistently confounds expectations with its clever twists and turns. VERDICT Admirers of Patricia Highsmith, Laura Lippman, and Kimberly Pauley (Ask Me) are in for a treat. New readers have a backlist to explore! [See Prepub Alert, 1/26/16; see also profile of Abbott, p. 65.--Ed.]--Frances Thorsen, Chronicles of Crime Bookshop, Victoria, BC

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2016

When murder rips apart the gymnastics community shortly before 15-year-old aspiring Olympian Devon's big competition, mom Katie attends to the suddenly revealed allegiances among various parents even as she draws closer to the crime itself. With a six-city tour; best seller Abbott's recent The Fever got best-book attention and is being adapted for television.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2016

This latest novel from Abbott (after The Fever) centers on a young man's hit-and-run death shortly before a major gymnastics competition, ripping apart that sport's close-knit community. Immersed in her life as an Olympic hopeful, 15-year-old Devon Knox is in a tailspin. Her mother, Katie, goes into protective mode and attempts to salvage her family from ugly rumors involving her husband and questions about the boy's tragic end. Trying to keep her daughter's dream alive at any cost, Katie is as much a focus of this story as Devon. In true Abbott style, nothing is predictable here; the plot consistently confounds expectations with its clever twists and turns. VERDICT Admirers of Patricia Highsmith, Laura Lippman, and Kimberly Pauley (Ask Me) are in for a treat. New readers have a backlist to explore! [See Prepub Alert, 1/26/16; see also profile of Abbott, p. 65.--Ed.]--Frances Thorsen, Chronicles of Crime Bookshop, Victoria, BC

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.