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The Plot

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The Plot

By: Jean Hanff Korelitz
Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
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About this listen

Hailed as breathtakingly suspenseful, Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Plot is a propulsive listen about a story too good not to steal and the writer who steals it.

Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young novelist with a respectably published first book. Today, he’s teaching in a third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what’s left of his self-respect; he hasn’t written - let alone published - anything decent in years. When Evan Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn’t need Jake’s help because the plot of his book in progress is a sure thing, Jake is prepared to dismiss the boast as typical amateur narcissism. But then...he hears the plot.

Jake returns to the downward trajectory of his own career and braces himself for the supernova publication of Evan Parker’s first novel: but it never comes. When he discovers that his former student has died, presumably without ever completing his book, Jake does what any self-respecting writer would do with a story like that - a story that absolutely needs to be told.

In a few short years, all of Evan Parker’s predictions have come true, but Jake is the author enjoying the wave. He is wealthy, famous, praised and read all over the world. But at the height of his glorious new life, an email arrives, the first salvo in a terrifying, anonymous campaign: You are a thief, it says.

As Jake struggles to understand his antagonist and hide the truth from his readers and his publishers, he begins to learn more about his late student, and what he discovers both amazes and terrifies him. Who was Evan Parker, and how did he get the idea for his “sure thing” of a novel? What is the real story behind the plot, and who stole it from whom?

©2021 Jean Hanff Korelitz (P)2021 W F Howes
Crime Thrillers Psychological Thriller Thriller & Suspense Fiction Crime Exciting Suspense Student

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All stars
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I thought I had worked out the twist in this novel less than half way through it but I kept hoping I was wrong and it couldn’t be that obvious. I wasn’t and it was which was so disappointing. I found the reader’s American accent a bit irritating .

Disappointing

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I did enjoy this book, despite it being very similar to another novel I read recently, YELLOWFACE. And I also guessed the twist, which is pretty obvious from about halfway through. And the reading for me was terrible. It sounds like a computer voice with the internation in peculiar places - that almost put me off from finishing it.

Same plot as YELLOWFACE?

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Loved, loved, loved this! Intriguing, tightly written with a great twist. Gets a little silly towards the end, with a totally shark jumping finale. But it’s not silly enough to wreck the story.

Brilliantly meta thriller, with an awesome twist.

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The book itself is moderately entertaining but I was a bit irritated to learn that Bonner did effectively write the fictional novel himself after seeing only a few pages of the original work, which undermines the story and makes his reaction to the accusation of plagiarism a bit unbelievable. Also, the plot of the fictional novel turned out to be mediocre rather than revolutionary. On the upside, I did not pick up on the clues and did get caught out by the ending.

Not “breathtakingly suspenseful”

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I would have given this a higher score if I hadn’t guessed the main thrust of the ending so early on. The reader grew on me over time. I most enjoyed all the behind the scenes publishing /writerly angst stuff which for me was the best part of the novel.

Quite fun, well written

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