I enjoyed this story but I think I had been expecting more. For a book about a plot with such a crazy twist I didn’t find this book to be very twisty at all. Despite figuring out what was going to happen I did enjoy reading it and especially liked the chapters from the narrator’s novel intertwined int he main story. The writing was good and the characters were well-developed (even if they weren’t particularly likeable).
The narrator is Jacob who started out his career as writer with a lot of promise and was highlighted by the New York Times. His follow up book was significantly less successful and led him down a path to teaching creative writing at a third rate program. He hates his job and his students. At one point he comes across a particularly cocky student, Evan Parker, who has an ingenious idea for a novel that will make him famous and to Jacob’s frustration he agrees about the brilliance of the idea. Years later when he is reminded of that student he looks him up and finds out he died not long after the program. Jacob can’t help himself and writes a novel using the plot Evan had told him. He instantly rockets to success but someone starts to send him anonymous notes calling him a thief and a liar.
The narrator is Jacob who started out his career as writer with a lot of promise and was highlighted by the New York Times. His follow up book was significantly less successful and led him down a path to teaching creative writing at a third rate program. He hates his job and his students. At one point he comes across a particularly cocky student, Evan Parker, who has an ingenious idea for a novel that will make him famous and to Jacob’s frustration he agrees about the brilliance of the idea. Years later when he is reminded of that student he looks him up and finds out he died not long after the program. Jacob can’t help himself and writes a novel using the plot Evan had told him. He instantly rockets to success but someone starts to send him anonymous notes calling him a thief and a liar.