Our kind of game : a novel / Johanna Copeland.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"A riveting and suspenseful debut. Copeland's contemporary take on the balance of power in relationships, and the desire for control, is not to be missed."--New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Karin Slaughter

A gifted new suspense writer makes her sizzling debut with this serpentine tale exploring all the ways in which men enact violence on women, how women try to reclaim their own sense of self, and the lingering effects on their children's lives.

2019. Stella Parker has the life she's always wanted: a loving husband, two happy children that she gave up her thriving law career to raise, and a beautiful house in the tony suburbs of Washington, DC. But when her neighbor Gwen shows up at her door, claiming to know things about her, Stella's life is thrown into turmoil and she's forced to reckon with the dark secret upon which she's built her life.

1987. Julie Waits yearns to be a cheerleader--a gateway to a world of normalcy with best friends and sleepovers, and an escape hatch from life with her widowed mother, the terrible men she attracts, and the upheaval caused by their abrupt and constant moves. But when her mother decides those relationships are over, the past becomes a forbidden subject that Julie can never revisit.

As Stella probes deeper into what brought Gwen to her door, the answer--and who Julie is to her--become increasingly, terrifyingly, clear.

Filled with shocking twists and turns, this is a book that both asks what it means for a woman to be in control of her life while also highlighting the impact of small daily violences upon women, and the connection between physical and psychological harm.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Former attorney Copeland stuns with this audacious debut thriller about the extremes to which some people will go to protect the ones they love. In 2019, Stella Parker is dissatisfied with the life she's built for herself in the D.C. suburbs, having traded her law career for marriage and motherhood. Her ennui turns to terror after her neighbor, Gwen, drops her phone in Stella's driveway while limping down the block one evening. When Stella picks it up, she sees messages suggesting Gwen may know one of her long-buried secrets. In a parallel story line set in 1987, high schooler Julie Waits hopes that making the cheerleading squad will provide a distraction from her mother's string of abusive relationships and the chaos that ensues whenever she decides to end them. Gradually, Copeland teases out the connections between Stella and Julie and unveils the grisly truth about Julie's mother. With expertly timed reveals and plenty of thorny insights into the causes and consequences of gender-based violence, this first-rate suspense novel thrills and provokes in equal measure. It's a must-read. Agent: Christopher Schelling, Selectric Artists. (July)

Booklist Review

Paula and Julie Waits had a tough childhood with a father who abused them and their mother. Still, it was a shock when their mother said he had "moved on" and died. A series of similarly abusive boyfriends followed, and their mom also helped them "move on" after she took their money. The girls were eventually sucked into their mom's schemes, realizing she would do anything to protect them and secure their future. Paula became a cop, while Julie changed her identity, got a scholarship to UCLA, and studied law. She married Tom, they had two kids, and Julie (now called Stella) became a stay-at-home mom. Blonde, slim, pretty, rich--no one could have guessed that Stella had such a traumatic childhood. Eventually, Stella begins to feel unappreciated, bored, and angry, suspecting Tom is having an affair. The reality is even worse-- Stella's past has caught up with her, but like her mother, she'll do anything to keep her kids safe. This riveting, suspenseful, nightmarish debut is filled with dark twists as it highlights the simmering resentment of women who feel undervalued--and the lengths they'll go to for their children.