A Flaw in the Design: a psychological thriller par excellence Guardian

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Description

'A literary thriller of the highest order' - Julia May Jonas, author of Vladimir

Gil has been estranged from his sister ever since her obnoxious son tried to drown his daughter on a family holiday. That's Gil's interpretation; his sister thinks he was only playing around.

Or did. When she and her husband perish in a car crash, Gil becomes his nephew's legal guardian. Matthew is now an urbane 17-year-old, raised in Manhattan's Upper East Side, a planet away from rural Vermont, where Gil lives with his wife and daughters, teaching at the local university.

At first, Matthew seems like he has changed, but when he begins to take Gil's writing classes, he submits a story detailing the various ways a character resembling Gil's youngest daughter might die. While Gil believes that he has invited a psychopath to live under his roof, the women in his life are impressed by Matthew's intelligence and charm. Is Gil losing his mind, or are his family in desperate danger

Reviews

'A Flaw in the Design is a literary thriller of the highest order - a book that made my heart beat fast and my brain light up' - Julia May Jonas, author of Vladimir

'Brutal and compelling, A Flaw in the Design ... swerves and shocks before smashing into you, a T-bone collision you can hold in your hands.' - Julia Phillips, author of Disappearing Earth

'Brilliantly constructed and psychologically astute' - Antoine Wilson, author of Mouth to Mouth

Author Bio

Nathan Oates's debut collection of short stories, The Empty House, won the 2012 Spokane Prize. He is an associate professor at Seton Hall University, where he teaches creative writing. He lives in Brooklyn, New York with his family. A Flaw in the Design is his debut novel.