First published 2023
Mae Pruett works as a "black-bag" publicist in Los Angeles, specializing in burying scandals rather than promoting success. She operates within a network of lawyers, PR specialists, and private security firms that she calls "The Beast," all dedicated to protecting wealthy and corrupt clients through any means required. When someone guns down her boss outside the Beverly Hills Hotel in what appears to be a random shooting, Mae decides to investigate the killing herself. Her search pulls her deep into The Beast's illegal operations and the corrupt systems it maintains. Mae travels through a neon-lit Los Angeles populated by drug-addled influencers, massive estates neighboring homeless camps, dishonest police officers, and shadowy demolition teams working under cover of darkness. As she digs deeper, Mae confronts the impossible challenge of exposing the very power structures that control the city.
Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigation, moral-ambiguity, systemic-issues
Setting: Beverly Hills, Los Angeles
Period: 21st-century
352 pages · Hardcover · Little, Brown and Company
Content warnings: violence