Wreaking Havoc
The Dark White Lotus, Diplomats, and Widows
THE MAIN COURSE
HAVOC: A Novel by Christopher Bollen | Harper, December 3, 2024
The cultural zeitgeist is awash in White Lotus comparisons—and for good reason. It’s a stellar show. So stellar, in fact, that most books pitched in its vein end up feeling like pale imitations. Let’s face it: there’s only one Tanya McQuoid and one band of murderous gays that can truly claim our hearts.
Enter Havoc by Christopher Bollen, which, at first glance, seems poised to follow the well-worn path of the “murderous hotel” trope. Sun! Sex! Fun! Murder! But this book—out this week—delivers something entirely different. Just when you think you’ve settled into the familiar, Bollen throws you off balance. The story’s unreliable narrator is an 81-year-old woman who’s practically a permanent resident at a crumbling resort in Luxor, Egypt, having fled her previous hotel in Switzerland under... murky circumstances. Things take a sinister turn when she befriends an 8-year-old boy who’s far too clever—and far too wicked—for his years.
Twisty, genre-bending, and packed with surprises, Havoc isn’t easily pinned down. It’s White Lotus, sure—but also The Night Manager (Switzerland-to-Egypt danger pipeline included) with a heavy dose of The Bad Seed. It’s unsettling, addictive, and will leave you questioning what you just read—and loving every second of it.
YOUR SOMMELIER’S SUGGESTION
RED WIDOW by Alma Katsu | G.P. Putnam's Sons
If you, hypothetically, spent Thanksgiving weekend devouring all six (only six?!) precious episodes of The Diplomat’s second season, you’re probably craving more international intrigue, high-stakes diplomacy, and a world where politics feel just a touch less bleak than reality. To tide you over until season three, might we suggest diving into Red Widow by Alma Katsu?
While it leans more toward espionage than diplomacy, Red Widow captures the same pulse-pounding intensity of secret deals and shadowy alliances. The story follows two female CIA officers as they hunt for a mole within their ranks, navigating a labyrinth of office politics, betrayals, and tactical mind games. Fans of The Diplomat will find much to love here: a female-driven narrative, morally fraught dilemmas, and Katsu’s sharp psychological insights. Consider this your next binge—this time, in book form.
(And speaking of bingeing, book 2 in this, the Lyndsey Duncan series, is titled Red London and it’s also already in bookstores.)
DESSERT
Ben Mezrich’s Foolproof Formula for Hollywood Success by Simon van Zuylen-Wood (Vulture)
Just a wild, strange, sobering ride, this profile.
In Tumultuous Times, Readers Turn to ‘Healing Fiction’ by Alexandra Alter (The New York Times
Turns out, the world is a pretty scary and exhausting place! That doesn’t mean our fiction has to be.
Slavery’s Ghost Haunts a Booker Prizewinner’s First TV Show by Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff (The New York Times)
Marlon James could write a phonebook and we’d watch it being read aloud on television. Lucky for us all, he’s done so much more than that with Get Millie Black, currently on HBO
The Most Coveted Screenshot in the Literary World by Jordan Michelman (The Atlantic)
Don’t ever change, PM. You’re one of the last pure things.