Lying in Wait

Starred review from April 2, 2018
Irish author Nugent follows her well-received debut, 2017’s Unraveling Oliver, with a devastating psychological thriller. Late on the night of Nov. 14, 1980, judge Andrew Fitzsimons and his wife, Lydia, rendezvous with troubled 22-year-old prostitute Annie Doyle on a deserted Dublin beach for unspecified reasons. When Annie threatens blackmail, the couple kill her. Lydia orders Andrew to bury the body in their garden and forget it, but then Annie’s family reports her missing and a media circus ensues. Andrew panics, arousing the suspicion of the couple’s 17-year-old son, Laurence, who becomes obsessed with Annie. Also fixated is the victim’s 19-year-old sister, Karen, who remains dedicated to finding Annie even after the police lose interest. This tragic tale unfolds over five years from the perspectives of Lydia, Laurence, and Karen, allowing Nugent to develop character while exploring the crime’s ripple effect. Annie’s connection to the Fitzsimonses is the mystery on which the plot hangs, but Lydia is the most intriguing puzzle; equal parts victim and villain, she simultaneously inspires pity, outrage, and horror. The result is an exquisitely uncomfortable, utterly captivating reading experience. Agent: Marianne Gunn O’Connor, Marianne Gunn O’Connor Creative Agency.

April 15, 2018
Laurence Fitzsimons has a mother who's determined to control everything, and everyone, around her--even if she has to kill to do it.When 22-year-old Annie Doyle is murdered, it's ugly and sudden. Her life ends in 1980 on a Dublin beach at the hands of Lydia and Andrew Fitzsimons, for reasons not immediately made clear. Lydia doesn't feel at all bad about the deed: "I like to think I did the girl a kindness, like putting an injured bird out of its misery. She did not deserve such kindness." Lydia is disillusioned with Andrew after more than 21 years of marriage, and although they live in a lovely estate called Avalon, they are nearly penniless because of Andrew's bad investments. All Lydia really cares about is her 17-year-old son, Laurence, whose every move she attempts to control. Laurence is overweight and bullied at school, but he's also observant and not at all stupid. His parents are acting squirrelly, and he soon suspects one or both of them had a hand in Annie's death. Meanwhile, Annie's sister, Karen, is convinced something bad has happened to Annie, who has always been troubled: At 16 she became pregnant, was sent to a home for unwed mothers, and was forced to give up her baby girl, Marnie. It left her forever changed. Karen begins investigating on her own, eventually becoming intimately tied to the Fitzsimons. Like Unraveling Oliver (2017), this is a whydunit, not a whodunit, and the real meat lies in Nugent's exploration of motherhood, mental illness, and what could drive a person to murder, told through first-person accounts from Lydia, Karen, and Laurence. Lydia is a Gothic villain for the ages, and Annie is sympathetically drawn; a letter she wrote to Marnie, riddled with misspellings, is heartbreaking. Society failed Annie, and her victimization never ended, even after her death.A page-turner chock full of lies and betrayals and a very creepy mother-son relationship.

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May 1, 2018

Wonder what it's like to have a mother with no conscience? In Nugent's (Unraveling Oliver) chilling tale of the sociopathic mind, that's what guilt-laden son Laurence Fitzsimons lives with every day; he just doesn't know it yet. Dublin matriarch Lydia leads a privileged life; the few things not given to her, she takes without remorse. She pulls the strings of her unwitting family members, convincing husband Andrew to risk everything to provide her with the one thing she doesn't possess. Unfortunately, her plan doesn't include the death of prostitute Annie Doyle. But Annie deserved it, and Lydia finds the perfect place to hide the body. Five years later, Laurence befriends Annie's father and is eventually drawn to her sister, Karen, and Lydia devises a plan to avoid being exposed by bringing Annie back to life. As Laurence uncovers his mother's lifelong secrets, Lydia is challenged to maintain control of the one person in her life she still desperately needs. VERDICT Readers who love sinister psychological thrillers will tear through these pages to discover how far Lydia will go to keep her son at home, and what accidents will befall those who cross her. [See Prepub Alert, 12/11/17.]--K.L. Romo, Duncanville, TX

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 15, 2018
Nugent (Unraveling Oliver, 2017) introduces an unforgettable cast of characters in this tour de force that opens with a Dublin judge and his pretentious wife, Lydia, hiding a body, and it just gets more astonishing as it continues. The main character here is the couple's very overweight, depressed son, Laurence, a victim of his mother's enormous selfishness and his father's inability to put his foot down. We meet Laurence as a boy, and as he matures, readers can only watch in horror as he becomes curious about, and more and more enmeshed in, his parents' crime. Nugent's characterization is superb; everyone from the hapless Laurence to his flighty first girlfriend, who plays only a minor role, is fully drawn and contributes uniquely to the unfolding drama. John Boyne's Maude Avery (the mother in The Heart's Invisible Furies) has met her narcissistic match in Lydia; Boyne's fans will eat this book up, but, really, everyone should grab it the second it appears. We will be hearing a lot more from Nugent.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)