From critically acclaimed author Kit Frick, this electrifying suspense novel explodes convention to deliver two interlocking thrillers in one, following a pair of sisters into a family’s dark past and illuminating how a single choice can drastically alter the trajectory of our lives.
ATRIA/EMILY BESTLER BOOKS FEBRUARY 13, 2024
♦ Publishers Weekly Starred Review
♦ An ELLE Best (and Most Anticipated) Mystery and Thriller Book of 2024
♦ A Goodreads Editors’ Most Anticipated Book of February 2024
Simon & Schuster Audio / listen on Audible
Jane Connor is resigned to being the “plain Jane” of her family—pragmatic and dependable—so unlike her beautiful and impetuous younger sister Esme. When Esme calls Jane during a flash summer storm, announcing she’s left her high society husband, Jane is shocked to learn that her sister wishes to stay with her. Could this be an opportunity for them to become close again? The only catch: Esme needs a ride from the city to their small Connecticut hometown, and Jane is terrified of getting on the highway…because of what she did when they were teens.
Jane must either let Esme stand on her own two feet for once or jump to her flighty younger sister’s rescue—and her choice cleaves her life in two.
In one reality, Jane can’t overcome her fear and tells Esme to crash with a friend. Twenty-four hours later, her sister is missing. Tortured by regret, Jane dedicates herself to piecing together Esme’s life before her disappearance, unraveling a web of lies, broken relationships, and, finally, the truth.
In the other reality, Jane swallows her fear and offers her less-than-grateful sister a ride. But while Jane hopes living together in their childhood home will be healing, Esme is aloof and increasingly reckless. The tension between the sisters builds until they are finally forced to reckon with the explosive secret from their past that could destroy their fragile bond—and both their lives.
With a rollicking pace and shocking twists and turns, The Split captivatingly explores how little we know the ones we love—and how one small choice can change everything.
Should she stay or should she go? In each scenario, Frick slowly ratchets up the suspense . . . it’s great fun to watch her two narratives collide and diverge.
Dual narratives intertwine in Kit Frick’s The Split, which explores two outcomes of one fateful choice. . . Frick’s family drama uses its clever framing device to trace the very real mysteries imbedded in our oldest and most intimate relationships.
Double the suspense! The Split is both funhouse mirror and storytelling feat, with twin narratives that race each other to a satisfying—and shocking—conclusion.
YA author Frick (The Reunion) makes her auspicious adult debut with a knotty Sliding Doors–esque thriller about two sisters who share a dark secret…Frick keeps readers deliriously off-balance, tossing out just enough breadcrumbs to make the truth seem obvious only in hindsight. The format gives new life to the unreliable narrator trope, and Frick is excellent at establishing a plausibly lived-in dynamic between Jane and Esme. This is an exhilarating puzzle.
In this clever domestic thriller by Kit Frick, one split decision takes two twisty paths in a crafty sliding doors plot. The characters leap from the pages and the family dysfunction feels both complex and grounded. A highly relatable and page-turning read!
In a taut thriller with two timelines, both are packed with clever twists…The prose is streamlined, the pace headlong, and the surprises satisfying on both sides of reality.
Utterly absorbing and compulsively readable, The Split is a clever sliding-doors-style thriller that brilliantly examines how a single decision can derail an entire life. At once an intriguing puzzle threaded with secrets and lies, and a compelling family drama exploring the complicated bonds of sisterhood, The Split is a novel you won’t be able to put down–or forget.
YA novelist Frick’s adult debut is an edge-of-your-seat suspense tale about sisters and secrets…Illustrating the repercussions of choices, Frick leaves readers breathless. Be careful what you wish for.
A masterfully crafted, inventive thriller that surprises at every turn. The Split is unlike anything I’ve ever read before.
This is two thrillers in one, and readers will be enthralled with both. YA thriller author Frick (The Reunion), making her adult debut, expertly demonstrates how one decision can change a life, and how, despite those decisions, some things, and some people, remain the same.
My god, does Frick know how to write a thriller that just sinks its teeth into you straight away.
First chapter excerpt on The Nerd Daily
Hold That Train! Writing a Sliding Doors Thriller: Guest Post on Crime Reads
Nine Thrillers About Complicated Sibling Dynamics: Guest Post on Electric Literature
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YA Authors Kit Frick and Kara Thomas on Writing Their Debut Adult Thrillers: Author Chat on Crime Reads