What Boys Learn

By: Andromeda Romano-Lax

From the author of The Deepest Lake comes a gripping novel of psychological suspense that unravels a mother’s worst fear—that her son may have played a part in the murders of two teenage girls in a wealthy Chicago suburb.

Over one terrible weekend, two teenage girls are found dead in a wealthy Chicago suburb. As the community mourns, Abby Rosso, the girls’ high school counselor, begins to suspect that her son, Benjamin, was secretly involved in their lives—and possibly, their deaths.

Abby doesn’t want to believe Benjamin hurt anyone. But she’s seen the warning signs before. Two decades ago, her brother was imprisoned for a disturbing crime—he was only a little older than Benjamin is now. And Abby has more troubling memories from her own adolescence that confirm what boys and men are capable of. As Abby searches for the truth about what happened to her students, she’s forced to face the question: Has she been making excuses for Benjamin for years?

Swirling with sharp questions about family, memory, and psychopathy, What Boys Learn is a twisty thriller about how boys are raised—and what they are taught they can get away with.

©2026 Andromeda Romano-Lax (P)2026 Recorded Books