Everybody Knows

A Novel

By: Jordan Harper

Narrated by: Megan Tusing, William DeMeritt

Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

In this “hardboiled mystery” (Maureen Corrigan) from an Edgar Award winning author, a fearless black-bag publicist exposes the belly of the L.A. beast.

Welcome to Mae Pruett’s Los Angeles, where “Nobody talks. But everybody whispers.” As a “black-bag” publicist tasked not with letting the good news out but keeping the bad news in, Mae works for one of LA’s most powerful and sought-after crisis PR firms, at the center of a sprawling web of lawyers, PR flaks, and private security firms she calls “The Beast.” They protect the rich and powerful and depraved by any means necessary.

After her boss is gunned down in front of the Beverly Hills Hotel in a random attack, Mae takes it upon herself to investigate and runs headfirst into The Beast’s lawless machinations and the twisted systems it exists to perpetuate. It takes her on a roving neon joyride through a Los Angeles full of influencers pumped full of pills and fillers; sprawling mansions footsteps away from sprawling homeless encampments; crooked cops and mysterious wrecking crews in the middle of the night.

Edgar Award-winner Jordan Harper’s Everybody Knows is addicting and alarming, a “juggernaut of a novel” and “an absolute tour de force.” It is what the crime novel can achieve in the modern age: portray the human lives at the center of vast American landscapes, and make us thrill at their attempts to face impossible odds.

Recommended by New York Times Book Review • NPR/Fresh Air • Wall Street Journal • Washington Post • LA Times • CrimeReads • Alta Online • Lit Hub• Kirkus Reviews • Publishers Weekly • NBC/TODAY and many more!

• An ABA January 2023 Indie Next List Pick

• A NYTBR Editors' Choice Selection

"The book everybody's been waiting for"—Michael Connelly

"An absolute tour de force"—S. A. Cosby

"The best mystery novel I've read in years"—James Patterson

©2023 Jordan Harper (P)2023 Mulholland Books

Critic reviews

“Everybody Knows is the best mystery novel I’ve read in years…Jordan Harper writes sentences, and in this case an entire book, that is both terrifying and exhilarating.”—James Patterson

“EVERYBODY KNOWS rages through the City of Angels like a broken-dam flood. It’s got it all, but most of all it’s got deep insight. It’s the book everybody’s been waiting for.”—Michael Connelly

“What a ride! If it were possible for James Ellroy and James M. Cain to produce a bastard love child, it would be EVERYBODY KNOWS by Jordan Harper. Awash in substance abuse, sex and demented violence, this is the LA of a good drug trip turned very bad.”—Dennis Lehane

Masterful -- I Had to Keep Listening

It’s not often I read a really great new novel, so I have to tell you about this one, "Everybody Knows," by Jordan Harper. The publisher calls it an L.A. Noir mystery, but it goes beyond that. It’s really our world and how we live it in. It’s about how we get the news that we do, including on social media.

I have a friend who feels that our popular “reliable” mass media such as NPR, The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times, often reflect what the powers that be want them to reflect. He prefers reading Consortium News and news from the Southern Poverty Law Center. Otherwise, what we hear is what the billionaires want us to hear through various manipulations.

"Everybody Knows" takes in such a theme from the point of view of a public relations agency in Los Angeles. Its many clients include the studios, stars, and politicians. The novel points out that the information that gets to us is often a narrative spun by a publicist, and the publicist protagonist, Mae Pruett, specializes in turning what might be a scandal into a benefit. She uses the notion that "give the public horror or heartstrings." Thus, a popular actress who is about to start a movie but who has come away from a weekend of debauchery with sex and drugs, injuring her face, will likely lose the movie and her career. Instead, Mae gets out that the star's loveable dog, overzealous, nipped her face out of love. Social media loves it.

I mention this because the book gets darker and darker, where we see that the PR agency as well as a Blackwater-like security company, a network, newspapers, and so much more are owned by a billionaire who really controls everything, and people die with impunity.

Mae's boss Dan, who gets killed early on and inspires Mae to find out why, has the saying, "Don't worry about the truth. It's not that the truth isn't important. It just doesn't matter. A lie that isn't believed by anyone can still have power if it gives permission to people to do what they want to do anyway.” A bloody glove that doesn’t fit is all you need. “Give them horror or give them heartstrings. Nothing else sticks."

I found the book as powerful as the 1974 movie The Parallax View with Warren Beatty, yet it doesn't have as bleak an ending. This book has one last great twist.

I listened to the book on Audible, and there are two voice actors, Megan Tusing and William DeMeritt, both amazing. I usually listen only to books in my car, but this one put me on edge so much, I had to keep listening at home on my AirPods. I recommend this especially for book clubs as there’s plenty to discuss in terms of theme and society, yet it’s also gripping with twist after twist.

First time thriller read

I’m usually not one to read mysteries, detective, noir stories, or thrillers, but this book changed my perspective. The story was intriguing and never boring.

A mindless escape if that’s what you’re looking for.

This is the kind of book that you would pick up at the airport when your flight is delayed and then just throw it in the trash afterwards. Pretty generic/cliché story with a couple attempts at being clever to hide its mediocrity. The author brings up that the primary female character prefers mezcal over tequila multiple times as if this is her interesting character trait.

Some of the modern references and uses of slang come off like your parents asking you if you still have a MySpace account. This book is entertaining enough if you have nothing else to occupy your time or you’re looking for something just interesting enough to keep you awake.

Couldn’t hit the pause button

Wow, this was fantastic! Gripping, thoughtful, and perfectly, tautly paced, this story untangles a narratively brilliant web with characters and imagery that leap off the “pages.” The main characters, including Los Angeles, (perhaps the chief protagonist) are fully realized early on; supporting “cast” members likewise standout, fully fleshed, even in minor roles. Paired with pitch perfect narration, listening to this book felt like watching a movie, and for me it was unputdownable. Eagerly jumping into Harper’s first novel next, and excited for more.

Excellent, Female-Centric LA Noir Book

Entertaining, female-centric LA Noir crime book. Narrator’s voice is pleasing and does the book and suspense justice.

Terrific book!

Beautiful vivid writing and a great story. So many vivid settings and lurid details, it felt both ripped from the headlines but also it’s own thing. Darker and murkier yet also hopeful, maybe a little?

Another quality novel from Jordan Harper

I became an instant Jordan Harper fan after discovering 'She rides shotgun', one of my favorite novels of the last decade. 'Everybody Knows' is a welcome follow up and, while much more measured in pace, I found it thouroughly engrossing.

The seedy underbelly of LA.

Wow, I have to take a shower. May & Chris are great characters navigating horrible people and fixing things for them. Minus one star for shoddy recording that skipped quite a few places.

Gripping

Great story, well told. Harper reveals a lot of truth by both shining a light on dark crevices and holding up a mirror. The narrators voices were pretty easy on the ears. My only criticism is of the male narrator’s voicing of the teenage girl. The accent was off. There also seemed to be a few technical issues with words getting shapely cut off. Happened on average about once a chapter.

Fast-paced and addictive

Fast-paced and addictive. Jordan Harper knows how to write a crackling good tale. Sharp dialogue and fine characterization.