Excerpt from The Impossible Us by Sarah Lotz, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

 

From: [email protected]  

To: [email protected]  

Subject: What the HELL is wrong with you?  

You can never have too much Bowie. I'd sleep under him and I'm as straight as they come. Crime novel. Not a bad plot. The remains of a body are unearthed on a country estate. Turns out to be a violent hunt saboteur who went missing in the 80s. Narrated by a landowner who may or may not have killed him...

 

From: [email protected]  

To: [email protected]  

Subject: What the HELL is wrong with you?  

Well don't keep me in suspense. DID he kill him?

 

From: [email protected]  

To: [email protected]
 
Subject: What the HELL is wrong with you?  

Yeah. Accidentally on purpose. Like you do when you have guns to hand and the underclass try to mess with your blood sports. Supposed to be morally ambiguous but not sure I pulled that off. Hard to get a reader to root for a main character whose idea of a good time is killing baby animals.

 

From: [email protected]  

To: [email protected]  

Subject: What the HELL is wrong with you?  

Is it autobiographical? If so, you might want to tone down that message ...

 

From: [email protected]  

To: [email protected]  

Subject: What the HELL is wrong with you?  

Wouldn't put it past him. Nah. That's not fair. Said he didn't do that kind of thing anymore.

 

From: [email protected]  

To: [email protected]

Subject: What the HELL is wrong with you?  

What kind of thing? Hunting or murder?

 

From: [email protected] 

To: [email protected]  

Subject: What the HELL is wrong with you?  

Both (I hope). Thing is, despite the tweedy twatness, I quite liked him when we met. Old bugger, generous with the booze, lives in one of those crumbling stately homes straight out of a period drama about emotionally stunted aristocrats. Said he wanted to write a novel before he died but "didn't have the time." They always say that. Worked my arse off on his manuscript, sent it to him and apart from a "thanks, will read asap" haven't heard a word.  

But you don't want to hear all this.

 

From: [email protected]  

To: [email protected]  

Subject: What the HELL is wrong with you?  

I share your pain. Nonpaying Clients From Hell are the freelancers' curse.

 

From: [email protected]  

To: [email protected]  

Subject: What the HELL is wrong with you?  

Spoken like a fellow sufferer. What field are you in?

 

From: [email protected]

 

To: [email protected]  

Subject: What the HELL is wrong with you?  

If I told you, I'd have to kill you.

 

From: [email protected]  

To: [email protected]  

Subject: What the HELL is wrong with you?  

You'd be doing me a favor the way things are going. If you're an assassin I might commission you. Only ... can I pay you in installments?

Excerpted from The Impossible Us by Sarah Lotz. Copyright © 2022 by Sarah Lotz. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.