This is How We End Things

July 31, 2023
Jacobs follows up Always the First to Die with a nail-biting closed-circle mystery set at a sleepy North Carolina college. Joe Lyons, chair of the psychology department at Dorrance University, is considered a rock star in his field, with published scholarship that’s treated “like an anticipated world premiere.” But his latest experiment—an unauthorized study on dishonesty that necessitates deceiving his subjects—goes awry when one of the trial participants lashes out after he’s falsely informed that his academic standing is at risk. Then one of Lyons’s six graduate research assistants is fatally stabbed and left in his office. Det. Alana Larson is assigned to the case, and shortly after she arrives on campus, a snowstorm confines her and her suspects to its grounds. Before long, another body turns up, and Lyons and Larson become determined to stem further bloodshed. Jacobs keeps readers on their toes, wringing maximum surprise out of the twists and red herrings, and effectively molds his leads into three-dimensional characters. Riley Sager fans will be pleased.Agent: Rachel Ekstrom, Courage Literary.

August 18, 2023
Dorrance University in Shepard, North Carolina, has a top-ranked psychology department. Professor Joe Lyons, a well-known scholar, is conducting research on deception with a group of graduate students. In a study that skirts the boundaries of ethics, they deceive student volunteers and record their reactions. When Elizabeth, one of the graduate students, who is also Lyons' lover, is found dead, the whole group is under suspicion. Campus-police officer Patrick King and Shepard police officer Alan Larson work together to find the killer. When Professor Lyons is also murdered, things become even more complicated. Neither officer has experience with murders, and the students, thanks to their studies, are all experienced liars. A late-spring storm that snows the whole town in makes the investigation more difficult. As the detectives sort through clues and false leads, secrets emerge. Readers of this psychological thriller will enjoy sorting through the complex alliances that lead to some surprising plot twists.

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October 13, 2023

In the latest psychological thriller from Jacobs (after Always the First To Die), a small group of psychology graduate students are studying the science of lying, under the direction of Professor Joe Lyons, who is known for pushing academic boundaries. During a new experiment on campus involving another college student, the test goes wrong and puts everyone on edge. When one of the grad students is killed in Lyons's office later that night, the remaining students start questioning how much they really know about each other and their professor. Everyone involved in the experiment has something to hide, including Lyons himself. As a local police detective and a campus police officer work on the murder case, secrets are brought to the surface, changing how the students view each other. Add in a heavily redacted psychological assessment found in the professor's possession, and the investigation becomes even more complicated. When a second murder is committed, and an unexpected winter storm rolls in, shutting down the college town, the students must either band together or splinter apart. The narrative point of view switches between the students, their professor, and the investigators, resulting in a fast-paced plot with many twists and turns. VERDICT Recommended for fans of Riley Sager, Harlan Coben, and B.A. Paris.--Jean King

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