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A Novel
by Marisa Kashino
An insanely competitive housing market. A desperate buyer on the edge. In Marisa Kashino's darkly humorous debut novel, Best Offer Wins, the white picket fence becomes the ultimate symbol of success―and obsession. How far would you go for the house of your dreams?
Eighteen months and 11 lost bidding wars into house-hunting in the overheated Washington, DC suburbs, 37-year-old publicist Margo Miyake gets a tip about the perfect house, in the perfect neighborhood, slated to come up for sale in one month. Desperate to escape the cramped apartment she shares with her husband Ian ― and in turn, get their marriage, plan to have a baby, and whole life back on track ― Margo becomes obsessed with buying the house before it's publicly listed and the masses descend (with unbeatable, all-cash offers in hand).
A little stalking? Harmless. A bit of trespassing? Necessary. As Margo infiltrates the homeowners' lives, her tactics grow increasingly unhinged―but just when she thinks she's won them over, she hits a snag in her plan. Undeterred, Margo will prove again and again that there's no boundary she won't cross to seize the dream life she's been chasing. The most unsettling part? You'll root for her, even as you gasp in disbelief.
Dark, biting, and laugh-out-loud funny, Best Offer Wins is a propulsive debut and a razor-sharp exploration of class, ambition, and the modern housing crisis.
"Author Kashino, a longtime journalist who covered the real estate market for the Washington Post and Washingtonian magazine, has created in Margo a character as vicious and conniving as the jilted lover played by Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction...Deliciously dark and twistedly funny." ―Kirkus Reviews
"A wicked satirical thriller about the cutthroat world of Washington, D.C., area real estate... this darkly comedic novel of millennial anxieties will likely strike an uncomfortable chord." ―Publishers Weekly
"A sharp, emotionally charged take on the real-estate rat race, blending millennial anxieties with biting humor... hilariously chaotic and surprisingly resonant." ―Library Journal
"A biting debut novel that might seem unbelievable but is utterly, gasp-inducingly, guffaw-out-loud fun." ―Booklist
"Not since Gone Girl have I been so gripped by a narrative voice. This is a tale of blackest comedy, spiralling obsession and ultimate horror. By turns laugh-out-loud funny and appalling, Marisa Kashino asks how far you would go to secure your dream house, then goes several steps further than you would ever dare. Compulsive and unputdownable. Highly recommended." ―Alex Michaelides, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient and The Fury
"Darkly satirical and wildly entertaining, Best Offer Wins is a riveting thriller from the first page to the last. Who knew that buying a house could be so fun and twisted?" ―Amy Tintera, New York Times bestselling author of Listen for the Lie
This information about Best Offer Wins 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.
Marisa Kashino was a journalist for 17 years, most recently at the Washington Post. She spent the bulk of her career at Washingtonian magazine, writing long-form features and overseeing the real estate and home design coverage. She grew up near Seattle, graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in journalism and political science. She lives in the DC area with her husband, two dogs, and two cats. Best Offer Wins is her first novel.
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