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Your next favorite book
is waiting.
The author of Black Chalk, "the smart summer thriller you've been waiting for" (NPR), returns with a mesmerizing new novel about a dangerous secret society at Oxford University, and the first-year Literature student whose life begins to unravel in its shadow.
When Ali McCain, an eighteen-year-old from Los Angeles, is accepted at Oxford, it's a chance to fulfill his dreams. To study English literature in England; to meet true intellectuals; and to glimpse the life he might have lived had his father—British rock star Gel McCain, legendary frontman of the Pale Fires—not abandoned him and his mother when he was a toddler.
But not long after he arrives at the storied campus, Ali is drawn into a dark, disorienting world where events grow more and more curious by the day. Trading on his father's name, he gains entry into one of Oxford's oldest and most selective secret societies, the Saracens. As he immerses himself in this rarefied world, he inadvertently sets in motion a series of events that might culminate in disaster.
A mind-bending literary house of mirrors, replete with bookish allusions and Easter eggs ranging from Brideshead Revisited to King Lear, The Rabbit Club is an arresting work of dark academia by the category's finest writer.
"Yates's dark-academia literary thriller delves into the allure and peril of elite university traditions…The immersive atmosphere, complex characters, and expertly paced plot propel the story to a satisfying, unexpected conclusion. Gripping, thought-provoking literary fiction." —Library Journal (starred review)
"Yates revisits the stiff-collared and secretive Oxford University setting of Black Chalk in his tantalizing latest, which chronicles a student's discovery of nefarious deeds there in the mid-1990s...Yates effectively builds suspense as Ali and Izzy face increasing danger, and a subplot involving Ali's father's reappearance adds depth. Dark academia fans ought to snatch this up." —Publishers Weekly
"Yates' winking yarn is both homage and parody of the dark academia genre…Literary references abound, ranging from Shakespeare to Dickens to Nirvana and most notably the overarching motifs of Alice in Wonderland. Secret societies, mysterious documents, and cryptic backstories all add to the richly detailed university setting…Yates is clearly having fun, and readers will too." —Booklist
"The Rabbit Club a lively labyrinth of a novel, a fun read that nods at pop hits and dusty classics alike, and that unlocks a secret society of characters as colorful as those who populate Alice's Wonderland. The game is afoot... and it is wicked and wild!" —Matthew Sullivan, author of Midnight in Soap Lake
"Diving into The Rabbit Club, a dizzying story grippingly told, is like taking a leap into Alice's rabbit hole only to discover something mysterious, compelling and new. There is a dark sense of danger in the wonderland Yates creates, a world of game players, liars and secret societies. Rarely has a dark academia tale been spun with this much verve and thrill. When the truth is revealed, your head might spin backward—or even flip itself inside-out." —Abbott Kahler, New York Times bestselling author of Eden Undone and Where You End
This information about The Rabbit Club was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Christopher J. Yates is the author of the novels Black Chalk, Grist Mill Road and The Rabbit Club. Black Chalk was an Indie Next Pick that was also named a best book of the year by NPR, and a "must read" by the Boston Globe, BBC.com and the New York Post. Grist Mill Road was an Entertainment Weekly "Must Read" and one of the NPR Book Concierge's "Best Books of the Year." Christopher was born in London and studied law at Wadham College, Oxford. He currently lives in New York's Hudson Valley and was the area's dining critic for the Times Union newspaper until 2024. You can find his food writing, as well as fiction updates on his substack Pen & Palate. He's also the co-author of 5 Minute Murder, a book of whodunit puzzles.
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