Viral - Softcover

FitzGerald, Helen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0571323502 ISBN 13: 9780571323500

Publisher: Faber Crime, 2016

Synopsis

So far, twenty-three thousand and ninety-six people have seen me online.

Su has always been the successful sister. It's Leah who is wild and often angry. But when they go to Magaluf to celebrate their exam results, Su disappears.

Su is on the run, humiliated and afraid. There's an online video of her performing multiple sex acts in a nightclub. And everyone has seen it.

Their mother Ruth, a prominent court judge, is furious. Can she bring justice to the men who took advantage of her daughter, and what will it take to bring Su home?

'Read it.' Stylist

'Gripping.' Tammy Cohen, author of When She Was Bad

'A real psychological roller-coaster.' Scotsman

About this title

Review

My favourite contender for the inevitable title of "the next Gone Girl". (Katy Guest Independent)

Helen Fitzgerald's Viral is of a higher order . . . "What if the worst thing you did went" are the words on the cover before we get to "Viral"; and the reason this book keeps us turning the pages is that it is a series of answers to various "what if"s . . . psychologically astute and well written at the level of the sentence. It is good to know that bestsellers don't have to be stupid. (Nicholas Lezard Guardian)

Finished @FitzHelen's new book. Funny, smart, moving and beautifully written, this should be *huge* next year. (Steve Mosby Twitter)

My favourite opening line to any novel for a long, long time. And the book gets better and better from that point. (Luca Veste Twitter)

Finished Viral by the fab @FitzHelen. SO glad I said no to 17-yr-old going to Kavos. Gripping, horribly plausible and utterly shocking. (Tammy Cohen Twitter)

Will be the most talked about opening line of 2016 - from Helen Fitzgerald's latest, VIRAL. (Eva Dolan)

A blistering tale of a mother's revenge - unflinching and utterly compelling. (Louise Millar)

I loved Helen's book - it takes this 21st century subject by the balls and shakes it around with controlled yet rollercoaster abandon. In one page-turning thriller, she covers heredity, the internet, shaming, sexism, sibling rivalry and cultural identity. As well as being a rattling, sometimes graphically described tale, it is inherently warm-hearted, on the side of humanity. It has one of the best first lines I have ever read - up there with Anna Karenina - as well as a completely surprising, but beautifully structured ending. As a fifty-something woman, I particularly appreciate the character of Ruth, a 360 degree, complicated, fiery, avenging mother. A rare treat! (Julia Crouch)

It's got all the juicy components to keep you hooked: a Magaluf sex tape, a suspicious supporting cast, an angry mother who is also a judge. Read it. (Stylist, 'One of 2016's New Gone Girls')

Fresh and uncompromising, reliably topical and filled with unexpected reversals and twists, Helen Fitzgerald's Viral is the latest gripping and darkly funny novel from one of crime fiction's most daring and original voices. (Chris Ewan)

Book Description

The most gripping novel yet from the acclaimed author of The Exit.

About this edition

• Publisher: Faber Crime
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0571323502
• ISBN 13: 9780571323500
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 266