The Truants

By: Kate Weinberg

Narrated by: Olivia Dowd

Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the New York Times Book Review's Top 10 Best Crime Novels of 2020

One of USA Today's Best Books 2020

"[A] hypnotic debut.... [An] uncommonly clever whodunit." (New York Times Book Review)

Perfect for lovers of Agatha Christie and The Secret History, The Truants is a seductive, unsettling, and beautifully written debut novel of literary suspense - a thrilling exploration of deceit, first love, and the depths to which obsession can drive us.

People disappear when they most want to be seen.

Jess Walker has come to a concrete campus under the flat gray skies of East Anglia for one reason: to be taught by the mesmerizing and rebellious Dr. Lorna Clay, whose seminars soon transform Jess' thinking on life, love, and Agatha Christie. Swept up in Lorna's thrall, Jess falls in with a tightly knit group of rule-breakers - Alec, a courageous South African journalist with a nihilistic streak; Georgie, a seductive, pill-popping aristocrat; and Nick, a handsome geologist with layers of his own.

But the dynamic between the friends begins to darken, until a tragedy shatters their friendships and love affairs, and reveals a terrible secret. Soon, Jess must face the question she fears most: What is the true cost of an extraordinary life?

Entertainment Weekly Best Book of January

A USA Today Must-Read Book of Winter

An Observer Book of the Year (UK)

A Marie Claire Top 5 Christmas Read (UK)

A Times Best New Crime Novel (UK)

A Guardian Top 10 Golden Age Detective Novel

An Irish Times Best Debut of 2019

An Apple Books Pick for January

©2020 Kate Weinberg (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"One of the best thriller debuts in recent years, with all the cleverness of Ruth Ware (and, yes, even Christie herself) and a dash of Donna Tartt’s edgy darkness. Though Christie fans may be particularly delighted, this propulsive, pitch-perfect thriller has something for everyone." (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)

“Weinberg's ‘truants’ are skillfully drawn, compelling and complicated in equal measures....Weinberg is a crackling good writer. The Truants is a novel worth skipping class for, and Weinberg's writing marks the arrival of a sure talent." (USA Today)

"Kate Weinberg’s The Truants marks the debut of a fresh, smart, exciting voice. I was both transported and captivated by the story and madly in love with all the characters." (Elin Hilderbrand, author of Summer of ‘69)

Ending???

Great story....I did not like how it ended. I felt as if I had been left adrift.

Great writing cannot make up for the story

This reads like a work of fine literature, but pedestrian teenage angst is what it is really about. There really are no surprises.
The protagonist is really a babe in the woods. However, Kate Weinberg writes so evocatively that I would be happy to listen to her next book.

WOW!!!

Loved this book. If you love The Secret History and things set in academia this is for you. Atmospheric, interesting characters, beautiful prose and well oaxed plot.

Hinged on ending

I couldn't stop listening to this book, beautiful compelling. But the end was a disappointment. Not worthy of Christie, who it references.

Not as Described

More a character study. Coming of age - maturing of a girl. Also if you have strong feelings about abortion this is not the book for you.

4

I've listened to this book twice. I didnt finish the first run which was months ago, this time I can't stop
hearing it. Agatha Christie, the queen of poisons, triangles, youth. And murder,(?) I still dont know. What a pleasure to explore this rare homage to the Golden Age of Detective Literature.
Will rhis author pen another? I hope so.

Wonderful book, wonderful reader.

A literary campus mystery, a lyrical telling, a feast of language. Wonderful reader. Enjoy this jewel of a book.

Promising but doesn’t quite deliver

Ok book but just doesn’t quite deliver. It had promise and I’m not sorry to have listened. I just finished and am left thinking the author built up something in the first half and then lost direction or steam or was under deadline pressure and didn’t quite fix the shortcomings. Overall it was ok.

Saved by the twist at the end

Throughout most of this book, I thought the author's message was that "coming of age" is the same as "making one bad decision after another." That was tiresome, since none of the characters are likeable or empathetic (okay, maybe Nick stumbled unwittingly into this litany of pills, booze, sex, obsession, and mind games). No spoilers here, but I really didn't like the portrayal of several women, cruelly manipulated by the same man, turning on each other rather than on him. Not to make a pun, but I nearly gave up on this downer of a story. That said, the ending is clever and I didn't see it coming. The narration was excellent.

Good

This is an incredibly well written book from start to finish, there is no doubt about that. Kate Weinberg knows how to bring the reader right into the epicenter of the story. The locations are gorgeously described that it feels quite poetic at times. The characters are interesting, not well enough developed to make me feel too much for them one way or the other...I guess that’s the one true negative, it’s an interesting story taking place in several different stunning locations, over an extended period of time but in the end, it just didn’t matter enough to me. The characters are all fairly unsympathetic and not truly made human which, to me, is job of the author; to really make the characters human and relatable in some way.The narration is fantastic the performance is a very, very good one. I love her voice and she’s emotive without being ridiculous about it. The books worth a read based on how gorgeous the writing is alone. Gorgeous gorgeous writing.