SURVIVAL INSTINCTS :: Jen Waite

A version of this review previously appeared in Shelf Awareness and is republished here with permission.

"There are some stories that don't need to be told." Anne keeps secret the story of her daughter's father in order to protect Thea. But Thea is now 12 and the Internet is a powerful tool. For reasons unknown to Anne, Thea has recently changed into a volatile preteen, her relationship with Anne strained by deceit. Since Thea is tight with Anne's mother, Rose, Anne schedules a girls' getaway to a remote cabin, hoping to reconnect. There, the past fractures the present, threatening the lives of all three women.

Jen Waite is infinitely qualified to write about psychopaths, having shared the story of her former marriage in a courageous memoir, A Beautiful, Terrible Thing. Waite now folds her experience into a novel, Survival Instincts, focusing on the lengths to which mothers will go to protect their children. Starting "Four Days Before the Cabin," Waite alternates timelines and points of view as Anne, Rose and Thea head to the cabin. Meanwhile, an unidentified man spins a tale of violence as he goes on the hunt.

Waite deftly dips into the past to fill out the framework of her characters and ultimately connect the women to "The Man." Satisfying turns and surprises highlight the narrative, which, despite some extraneous exposition, remains tense and quickly paced. Waite keeps readers invested in each woman, despite their human faults and wrong turns, and everyone will wish they had a grandmother like Rose. Waite's fiction debut is an intense story of women doing what it takes to survive.

STREET SENSE: If you don't remember how much I loved Jen's memoir, check out my prior review and the Maximum Shelf issue we got to run about it, including an interview with Jen. She has become one of my favorite people and I was psyched to see she was making the leap from non-fiction to fiction. It was a great leap. Jen weaves knowledge she has from her own life into a tense story with characters you come to care about. And, seriously, Rose kicks ASS. It's what I would call a "page-turner" if I didn't hate the term "page-turner." Give it a look-see, it pubbed on 7/14.

COVER NERD SAYS:  This is one of those times I knew I wanted to read the book before I had even seen the cover, so I was predisposed. That being said, I am fairly certain this would have caught my eye if it had been written by Jane Doe. Love the whiteout and the font that doesn't overpower it. I'm generally tired of covers with people or half-people walking or running, but this one is different and works really well. There's an air of menace about it that I really dig. This is a really good-looking cover.