I’m so thrilled the world is now able to get their hands on Layne Fargo’s excellent novel, Temper. It is a masterful thriller, suspenseful and so well-written. It deserves all the accolades it’s going to get. I was hooked from the opening pages, it was cinematic! And I felt I was witnessing an epic battle between the two main characters, Kira and Joanna. These are two strong-willed, deeply-flawed women and their head games were a thrill to witness. Layne Fargo has done a fantastic job of keeping the reader teetering at the edge of a cliff, wondering what will happen – who will get hurt, and who will finally lose their temper. Brava, Layne! So happy for you and so proud of you!
For fans of the high-stakes tension of the New York Times bestsellers Luckiest Girl Alive and The Lying Game, a razor-sharp page-turner about female ambition and what happens when fake violence draws real blood…
After years of struggling in the Chicago theater scene, ambitious actress Kira Rascher finally lands the role of a lifetime. The catch? Starring in Temper means working with Malcolm Mercer, a mercurial director who’s known for pushing his performers past their limits—onstage and off.
Kira’s convinced she can handle Malcolm, but the theater’s cofounder Joanna Cuyler is another story. Joanna sees Kira as a threat—to her own thwarted artistic aspirations, her twisted relationship with Malcolm, and the shocking secret she’s keeping about the upcoming production. But as opening night draws near, Kira and Joanna both start to realize that Malcolm’s dangerous extremes are nothing compared to what they’re capable of themselves.
An edgy, addictive, and fiendishly clever tale of ambition, deceit, and power, Temper is a timely, heart-in-your-throat psychological thriller that will leave you breathless.
Already Layne’s book has received well-deserved, high praise:
“[F]or potboilers, nothing comes close to Temper… There’s violence here, but it’s not only physical; it’s emotional and psychological — even intellectual.” — The New York Times Book Review
“Temper is a brilliantly paced thriller that gets under your skin in the best possible way. Zooming back and forth between two fierce and unforgettable narrators, this story digs its nails into you from the very first sentence and continues to leave its mark long after the final, jaw-dropping scene. With her exploration of ambition and obsession, pain and desire, Layne Fargo’s debut proves that she is a blistering and crucial new voice in psychological suspense.”
— Megan Collins, author of The Winter Sister
“The theater is a tempestuous, bloody place to be in Fargo’s prickly debut. Fargo’s propulsive writing style and Joanna’s and Kira’s dueling narratives drive the increasingly frenzied chain of events that play out… Fargo is an author to watch.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Temper is a dark and sexy ride, its characters’ passion and rage snowballing in equal measure as the story builds to its shocking conclusion. This is the Black Swan psychological suspense novel we’ve all been waiting for.”
— Wendy Heard, author of Hunting Annabelle
“Layne Fargo’s theatre noir debut Temper is a suspense novel paced to make readers twitch in their seats waiting for the final curtain. Sexy and sinister.”
— Lori Rader-Day, Edgar Award-nominated and Anthony and Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning author of Under a Dark Sky
“[An] intense psychological thriller… Fargo is definitely a writer to watch.”
— Publishers Weekly
“A twisted tale of what happens when violence, ambition, and the taste for blood take center stage… [Temper] builds a sense of danger and suspense that will keep readers guessing, literally until the last page. Fargo’s first novel features complicated female characters and will be well received by fans of Gillian Flynn and Tana French.”
— Margaret Howard, Booklist
