This is a character driven, slow burner with the central protagonists not being especially likeable as they play a game of cat and mouse with each other. Who will emerge the winner? All of them are certainly calculating maybe even cold, perhaps a bit bad ass, definitely selfish, some are full of excuses, occasionally honest, but often not. As for the mothers, frankly, they’re in a league of their own. Out of all of them, Amber is probably the most likeable and I do root for her, especially after what she’s been through. We discover more about Amber and the people surrounding her as the outline fills. Several voices are depicted with one person especially nuanced as casual entitlement gives way to a deeper understanding. A fascinating journey. You can't choose sides in this book. Meredith may seem innocent and naive, but her polished, perfect, and generous demeanor leaves her living in oblivion. Amber is odd, cold, calculating, and unique, and I found myself liking her the most, despite knowing from the start that she would ruin lives. Joe, on the other hand, is trying too hard to be someone he's not, and seems spineless, lost, and a little pathetic. Prom Mom is very much a character-driven novel. The characters all have secrets, tell lies, and are manipulative. Everyone has their own agendas, not all of them apparent.

Things do not go as planned, and before the night is over, Amber has a baby, is charged with manslaughter, and serves time in prison. She was a victim used by a careless boy who wanted only sex and then left to deal with the consequences on her own; her life was destroyed, and his barely disrupted.EXCERPT: Joe Simpson, denuded of words that linked him to Amber Glass, was simply a successful real estate salesman. All Amber wanted for herself was what had been granted to Joe. was that so much to ask? Special thanks to #WilliamMorrow and #NetGalley for a digital advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review. It’s January 2020, and Amber Glass has just returned to Baltimore to settle her stepfather’s estate. She has no intentions of reconnecting with Joe, who is now married to a beautiful and successful plastic surgeon named Meredith, but she can’t seem to stay away – and Joe can’t stay away from her, either.

The story is told over two timelines - 1997 when the 'Prom Mom' tragedy occurs, and twenty years later when Amber reappears in Joe's life - and is told from the points of view of Joe, Amber and Meredith. Amber was once a math tutor for Joe (he was suspended from the lacrosse team), the hunky athlete at the high school. He was bummed when his girlfriend broke up with him. Amber and Joe do more than homework, and she becomes pregnant. Her parents nor Joe knows about the pregnancy. They have a deal he will attend prom with Amber. In Bruce Borgos’ series-launching rural Nevada thriller ‘The Bitter Past,’ a small-town sheriff stumbles on a plot straight out of ‘The Americans.’The Guardian spoke with Lippman a week before Prom Mom’s publication. The interview has been edited and condensed. Similar to Lippman’s last book, I think readers will either love or hate Prom Mom. It worked for me in the best ways, and I found it oddly addicting. I had no idea where the plot was headed--and I enjoyed where it landed. Don’t expect a fast-paced thriller, but if well-written, slow-burn thrillers are your thing, give this one a go. 3.5-4/5⭐️ This is what I can share about the plot without getting into spoiler territory: On prom night in 1997, 16-year-old Amber gives birth in her date, Joe's hotel room, and kills the baby. Amber and Joe become media sensations known as Prom Mom and Cad Dad. I’m totally into my Hestia vibes. She had to tend to the fire of Mount Olympus pretty much 24/7. I’m like: Zeus, I can’t get married. I’m taking care of the hearth. I’m doing a lot of stuff here. Leave me alone.

When I was writing it, I didn’t expect it to become so timely. I did not see the overturning of Roe v Wade – I should have, but I didn’t. There’s this old quote about writing that it’s the choice between, you know afflicting the comfortable or comforting the afflicted. I think a lot of novelists choose to comfort the comfortable, and flatter their readers. Those books read like a hot knife through butter. I don’t do that. There were other things in Prom Mom that made people nervous. Yeah, my vibe’s gotten really dark. It happens that the book I’m working on right now is about a minor character from the Tess Monaghan series. I took this 68-year-old woman and put her on a cruise. I think of it as a mash-up of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler and Charade. It’s a sweet book, but of course it’s still a crime novel. The timeline alternates between 1997 and 201/2020, through the beginnings of COVID. The setting also alternates between Baltimore and New Orleans. Both cities come alive, and each plays a central role in the plot. Prom Mom has a strong sense of place, transporting the reader to Baltimore with all its sights and sounds, and Lippman really captures the surreal, downright weirdness of Covid times. Her writing is so sharp, and she crafts the best characters – the morally gray, psychologically intense ones that you don’t like, but are completely fascinated by. She writes in the noir style, in prose that is straightforward and unemotional, but there is still so much depth to her stories and her characters.The book switches between the POVs of Amber, Joe and his wife Meredith. It was hard for me to like any of the main characters. There’s a point made about being ethical while cheating. Sorry, that doesn’t fly in my book. . From Part I BEFORE: 1997-2020, to Part II AFTER 2020-2021 with a final 1997. Told from Joe, Meredith, and Amber's POV, the three will collide for an explosive ending where nothing is as it appears, and everyone has their respective agenda. Mix in Jordan, a dangerous scheme, a murder, and secrets from the past are unraveled —EXPLOSIVE. It’s always fun for me to read Lippman’s books, representing a return to my hometown. And she always makes a point of really laying out the territory, giving a true feel for the area. Prom Mom” isn’t in a hurry to pull the pin on that question, delighting instead in the slow reveal of characters who aren’t exactly what they seem. Meredith is not, in fact, a money-grubbing body mechanic; emotionally scarred by a bout with childhood leukemia, she participates in annual medical missions in Central America. She also knows all about Joe’s past and, most significantly, forgives him and urges him to forgive himself. Now, twenty-some years later, Amber's stepdad, Ron, dies, and she inherits his house and estate, which is quite large for Amber. She must return to Baltimore to sort out all the details.