Joy Fielding

Cul-de-Sac

Release date: August 10, 2021

A shooting lays bare the secrets harbored by five families in a sleepy suburban cul-de-sac in this riveting psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author Joy Fielding.

A shooting lays bare the secrets harbored by five families in a sleepy suburban cul-de-sac in this riveting psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of All the Wrong Places.

“Cul-de-sac proves once again that Joy Fielding is an ingenious master of domestic suspense.”—Samantha M. Bailey, USA Today and #1 national bestselling author of Woman on the Edge

Someone on this quiet, unassuming cul-de-sac will be shot dead in the middle of a sultry July night.

Will it be Maggie, the perfectionist wife, or Craig, the husband who can’t quite live up to her expectations? They’ve packed up their two children and fled their life in California, hoping for a fresh start in Florida, only to find the demons of the past hovering on their doorstep.

Maybe it will be Nick, a highly respected oncologist, or his wife, Dani, a successful dentist, both with well-kept secrets of their own.

Or Julia, an elderly widow, whose troubled grandson has recently moved in with her, introducing unsavory habits and even more unsavory acquaintances into her formerly quiet existence.

Then there’s Olivia and her husband, Sean. Having lost his job at a prestigious advertising agency, Sean is depressed, resentful of his working wife, and drinking heavily. He is also prone to increasingly violent fantasies.

And what of the newlyweds, Aiden and Heidi, whose marriage is already on the rocks, due to Aiden’s reluctance to stand up to his intrusive mother? Matters aren’t helped when Heidi befriends Julia’s grandson, setting the stage for a major blowup.

A diverse group of neighbors, to be sure. Yet all harbor secrets. All bear scars. And all have access to guns.

Not all will survive the night.

Available for pre-order on:

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Reviews

“Fielding has made the woman-in-jeopardy genre her own.”—People
—People
“We can always count on Joy Fielding to turn out a well-dressed, well-developed psychological suspense novel.”
—The Globe and Mail
“Set within an upscale neighborhood brimming with dark secrets, this captivating thriller thrums with delicious foreboding on every page. I was entranced by the gifted storytelling and magnetic characters, whose twisted paths converge in a shocking, explosive climax. Cul-de-sac proves once again that Joy Fielding is an ingenious master of domestic suspense.”
—Samantha M. Bailey, USA Today and #1 national bestselling author of Woman on the Edge.
“In a cul-de-sac somewhere in Florida, there will be a shooting. We know that going into the book. We also know one of the residents of the small, horseshoe-shaped street will be the shooter. As we meet the street’s residents (the newly separated mother, the domineering oncologist, the man who’s lying to his wife), and as we observe the interplay between them, peering into their bedrooms and eavesdropping on their conversations, we start to wonder: Will he explode into violence? Will she? Fielding’s latest novel is about as perfect a character-based thriller as you can find. Told in the present tense, in alternating chapters narrated by some of the main characters, the story becomes darker and more threatening as it progresses, until we sense the inevitable: something terrible is about to happen. Eventually, each chapter that ends without tragedy creates in the reader a palpable sense of relief. Until the relief ends. In the residents of an ordinary-looking cul-de-sac, Fielding has created some of her strongest, most compelling characters. An outstanding thriller and a perfect beach read.

HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Fielding's built-in audience will jump-start demand, but expect a late-summer boom as the book starts turning up in beach bags everywhere.
—David Pitt, Booklist, Starred Review