First published 2019
A fire destroys seven massive paintings meant for an upcoming exhibition. The unnamed artist faces a brutal deadline: recreate the lost work in three months or watch her career collapse. At thirty-four, broke and without a studio, she secures a spot at Pine City, an exclusive artists' retreat in upstate New York. She has worshipped this place and its founders her entire career. The retreat sits on a black lake, once home to a legendary collective of successful artists. But Pine City has changed. The recent suicide of Carey Logan, the group's most celebrated member and the painter's longtime hero, casts a shadow over everything. As she works frantically to reproduce the destroyed paintings, questions multiply. Logan was a genius, the wild child who defined the New York art scene. Her death seemed to close a chapter that can never be reopened. But the more time the painter spends at Pine City, the more she wonders about the real story behind her idol's final days. The retreat holds secrets that run deeper than artistic rivalry and creative jealousy.
Genres: art, mystery, contemporary, psychological-thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: New York, Pine City
Period: 21st-century
368 pages · Paperback · riverrun
Content warnings: suicide