Boom Town

De: Nic Stone

Narrado por: Ariel Blake, Angel Pean, Shayna Small, Bahni Turpin, Nic Stone

Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl meets P-Valley in Nic Stone’s adult thriller debut about two missing erotic dancers from Atlanta’s most notorious gentlemen's club and the woman committed to finding them.

When Damaris “Charm” Wilburn, a new daytime dancer, is missing for her shift at Boom Town, former headliner Michah “Lyriq” Johanssen suspects something more than a “no call, no show.” As Lyriq’s former headline partner and lover—Felice “Lucky” Carothers—also vanished under similar circumstances, Lyriq decides she’s going to find them.

Delving deeper into Charm and Lucky’s disappearances, Lyriq uncovers a tangled web of deceit, privilege, and power. The line between friend and foe blurs, forcing Lyriq to confront the question: Is finding for these women worth the threat to her own life?

This tantalizing thriller will take you on a heart-pounding and page turning journey through the peaks and valleys of Atlanta’s underworld.

The storyline was booming!

Nic Stone’s Boom Town was a gigantic surprise to me. I have loved her YA books but this transition into adult fiction is phenomenal. The depth of the characters. The suspense of knowing and not knowing is mind blowing. All I can say is Thomas needs a back story along with his Lake Lanier home. Great Job, kudos to making me spend my entire fall break listening to this book.

Fun listen, interesting story

I’m happy that it was a quick listen. I was very interested in seeing what justice would like in the story

Nic Stone gained a new fan

Welcome to the Boom Town, the most notorious Black strip club in the A (Atlanta). This book is about two dancers, one new (Charm) and one well-known headliner (Lucky), who both vanish without a trace. Both women share a connection: They’re linked to a dangerous, powerful, and wealthy man.

Lyriq, another headliner, who is close friends and ex-partner to Lucky, tries to figure out what is going on. But does she have what it takes to save these women before it’s too late?

This was my first read by Nic Stone. The book started out a little confusing, only because the author uses both the dancer’s real names and stage names. Plus, two of the main characters’ first names start with an L. On more than one occasion, I confused Lyriq with Lucky and vice versa. Check your triggers because there is violence, SA, and drama throughout this. Basically, everything you would expect from a story about the most infamous strip club in Atlanta.

Once I got comfortable with everyone’s names and the story started moving, Nic Stone took us on a ride. The author was descriptive. The storytelling, along with the physical copy and audiobook, allowed me to fully immerse into this world.

Nic Stone normally writes YA. This was her first attempt at an adult novel, and I felt like she did great. This would have been a five-star read for me if it weren’t for two things.

I struggled early on with who was who.

The buildup was intense and suspenseful, but then the climax felt rushed and flat.

I’m definitely going back to read her YA novels. She gained another fan.

4⭐️

This was my first read by Nic Stone and I have to say it took me on a crazy ride.
My husband and I couple-read this one and talked about each chapter as we finished. We also immersed read, which was a plus, but I kind of wished the narrator had a little more enthusiasm in some of the key parts.

I’ll admit, I was a little confused at first, the characters names are so similar that I actually had to write down who was who and how they were connected before things fully clicked. But once it did, the story really came together for me.

The story follows three strippers, two of them go missing weeks apart, and the third is trying to figure out what happened to them. It goes into their lives outside of the strip club and helps you to understand that these women are more than what they do for a living. Once my husband and I started putting our investigation skills together, it all made sense and got really good.

The only thing I didn’t love was the ending, it felt a little dull after such an intense buildup. Still, this was a crazy, fast-paced read and I look forward to reading more of her work.

P-Valley Meets Law&Order

I don’t usually listen to audiobooks. But this one definitely changed my mind! It kept me interested and entertained!!! So much mystery!

Good Intentions, Quiet Impact

Boomtown is a fast, unpredictable read — I flew through it, though I’m not entirely sure if that was because it was gripping or just light. It’s definitely a quick weekend book, the kind you can finish in one sitting without much emotional investment.

The story follows a group of exotic dancers at an Atlanta club called Boom Town. I genuinely appreciate the author’s intent — to highlight women whose stories often go untold: women of color, sex workers, and dancers who go missing without making the news. That premise is important and powerful.

But the execution didn’t live up to it. The book only skimmed the surface of what it means when Black women go missing — and how society fails to look for them. The characters lacked depth, and while the story wanted to be empowering, it often contradicted itself. The author talks about wanting to uplift the “ballerinas of the night,” but the women never feel truly empowered — more like props in their own story.

Overall, Boomtown is an easy, fast-paced read with an intriguing setup, but it doesn’t deliver on the weight of its message. If you’re looking for a quick distraction, sure — but if you’re hoping for something meaningful or transformative, nah.