THE SITE FOR DIE HARD CRIME & THRILLER FANS
Book Club

Dare Me

1 Mins read

“At first, cheer was something to fill my days, all our days. Age fourteen to eighteen, a girl needs something to kill all that time, that endless itchy waiting, every hour, every day for something – anything – to begin. There’s something dangerous about the boredom of teenage girls.” So says Addy Hanlon, narrator of Megan Abbott’s latest book, Dare Me.

Megan Abbott has written noir novels set in the 30s, 40s and 50s, but this takes place in present day suburbia. Addy and Beth are best friends and lead their high school cheerleading squad. Beth is the captain, Addy her faithful lieutenant.The social hierarchy is thrown into chaos by the arrival of a cool, sophisticated new cheerleading coach. Addy finds herself drawn to the new coach, but Beth is not one to take rejection lying down and plots revenge. When a male friend of the girls is found dead, it’s unclear whether murder, suicide or an accident is the cause.

This could have been another teen angst tale but Abbott delivers a challenging story, not afraid to question just what young women are capable of. She nails Addy and Beth, transforming their cadence, feelings, fears, and secrets into something very sinister, part dark noir, part suburban Lynchian nightmare.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related posts
iBookKindlePrintReviews

The Innocents by Bridget Walsh

This is the second novel in the entertaining historical mystery series Bridget Walsh launched last year with The Tumbling Girl. The stories are set in Victorian London, in a particular world we less often read about – a music hall called the Variety Palace. The…
KindlePrintReviews

The Other Murder by Kevin G Chapman

We’ve reviewed several of his New York-based police procedurals featuring NYPD Detective Mike Stoneman on this site, and Kevin G Chapman sticks with the Big Apple for his latest work, The Other Murder. The action begins inside one of the city’s landmark green spaces, Washington…
iBookKindlePrintReviews

Bird Spotting in a Small Town by Sophie Morton-Thomas

The Norfolk coast, where marsh meets sea, is the perfect habitat for a whole range of bird species. And for people who want to get away from the hustle and bustle of bigger towns, it’s the perfect place to escape to… or to hide. However,…
Crime Fiction Lover