Fiction Review: A Flaw in the Design

Another book I recently read for Booktopia 2023 is A Flaw in the Design by Nathan Oates. This literary suspense  debut novel kept me turning the pages late into the night but is also a thoughtful story about family, parenthood, and economic inequality.

Gil, a college literature professor, and his wife, Molly, live a quiet life in Vermont with their two daughters, ages 11 and 15. As the novel opens, that life is disrupted by the arrival of seventeen-year-old Matthew, their nephew. Gil's sister and her husband were just recently killed in a horrible car crash in New York, and Gil and Molly were surprised to learn that they were named as Matthew's guardians. Gil and his sister had been estranged for the past six years, ever since a disastrous family beach vacation at his sister's luxury home in Montauk. Matthew, just eleven at the time, displayed erratic, violent behavior, culminating in a heinous act that put their youngest daughter in danger. Now, Gil and Molly are welcoming Matthew into the midst of their family, wondering if he's a psychopath or if maybe he grew out of that behavior. In addition, Matthew has grown up surrounded by great wealth and privilege, and this new life in rural Vermont in the midst of a dark, snowy winter is a far cry from his luxury Upper East Side apartment and private school. Sometimes, Matthew seems like a normal teenager who is charming and very smart. He's even kind to Molly and the kids, and their oldest daughter is especially enamored of her older cousin. At other times, he seems menacing, and Gil wonders if he is taunting them. Is Matthew really a dangerous psychopath in their midst or is Gil's growing anxiety and mental health history leading him toward paranoia?

That is the primary tension in this slow-burning, creepy story, and that tension begins from the opening chapter (listen to the audio sample below) and grows, page by page. In addition to its exquisite suspense, the novel also has incredible emotional depth, as you get to know each character and learn their history. It delves into issues of trust, family relationships, economic disparities, and mental health. I would never spoil a novel in a review, but I can tell you that the climactic ending here is somewhat ambiguous, leaving the reader thinking and making it an excellent choice for discussion. This thought-provoking, taut suspense story will keep you reading late into the night ... with all the lights on.

283 pages, Random House

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Mount TBR Challenge

 

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Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, from the start of the novel, and/or download it from Audible. You can hear that tension already in these first pages.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!