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Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Society of Lies is a psychological thriller by Lauren Ling Brown. Released 1st Oct 2024 by Penguin Random House on their Bantam book imprint, it's 384 pages and available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. 

This is one of the "buzz" books of 2024 and was also a Reese's Book Club pick. Despite the pedigree, this is an often muddled, ambiguous, and chaotic story centered around two sisters at Columbia, jockeying for position in the "Eating Clubs". The characterization is diffuse; sketched in for most of the secondary characters. Motivations are murky or contradictory and most of the misunderstandings could've been cleared up with a 20 second conversation.

Many (most) of the characters are not particularly nice, and some are downright unpleasant. The author has painted Columbia and the eating clubs as being full of cruel spoiled rich kids who delight in bullying one another, with lots of partying and little academic work. The denouement and resolution are somewhat ambiguous and unsatisfying. 

Three stars. It's a mixed bag. Given the demand for the book it will likely already be on public library acquisitions lists. It would also be appropriate for book club discussion.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes. 

On Par With Foley and Jericho RE: Best Written Wrestling Memoirs. Admittedly, my favorite memory involving Kross as a wrestling fan, one I actually repeat occassionally, was actually something his opponent said to him a few years ago. He was in a feud in NXT as the NXT Champion with the former NXT Champiom, Adam Cole (now working for rival promotion AEW) when Cole said to Kross "This brand has done everything in their power to make *you* feel special. You got the cool music, you got the lights, you got the fog machine, you got the girl. You know what they do to make Adam Cole feel special? They ring the freakin' bell." This was during the COVID, "Thunderdome" era of WWE/ NXT, when Kross had a shaved head and was tearing through any and all competitors - a period he does in fact discuss over the course of this book.

I actually read the book on Wrestlemania 41 weekend in April 2025, specifically on Wrestlemania Sunday - when Kross wasn't on the card, but would ultimately have a "run-in" during the AJ Styles/ Logan Paul match... and then go on to cut what is likely the defining promo of his main roster career after the event, in a 3 minute video that has already gone viral this week with many calling for now WWE Hall of Famer Paul "Triple H" Levesque, Head of Creative for WWE, to give Kross a push the likes of which he hasn't really seen since that run he was on when Cole made the comment above.

I mean, I already had the memoir of a current WWE Superstar in my hand on Wrestlemania Weekend, I needed something to do before the show started up Sunday night, this book is sub-300 pages and thus a relatively quick read... so... yeah.

And y'all, it really was an excellent look into the life of Kevin Kesar, both long before the Kross character ever came into being - and even a fair amount of how Kesar created Kross - and at least some about his new career as Killer/ Karrion Kross. Indeed, most of the text is actually spent on his pre-WWE days - while there is *some* discussion of his WWE colleagues, the singular most common one discussed is his now-wife, known by her government name of Elizabeth but known to wrestling fans as the character Scarlett, a witch who both empowers and is powered by Kross' brutal warrior.  

Those looking for a lot of behind the scenes name dropping are going to be sorely disappointed. Kesar keeps the book focused on himself, even when discussing Elizabeth/ Scarlett. Even when others are in the scene, such as when he is meeting Elizabeth those first few times before they really started dating, or when he finally gets the call from WWE, or even when he and Elizabeth get married on an Alaskan glacier after having both been recently "let go" from WWE (and before they were both ultimately brought back), throughout the tale we see much more of Kesar than anyone else... as s memoir should be, to an extent, but also not as perhaps some fans reading wrestling memoirs specificlaly would necessarily like as much.

Instead we get all of Kesar - at least as much as he is willing to discuss publicly, even/ especially in book form. We see his early days as a kid watching wrestling and knowing even then that he wanted to do that "someday". We see his beginnings in what turned out to be a very "unsanctioned" dive bar bare knuckle fight. We see his first career as a bouncer and later professional bodyguard, in Vegas and beyond - again, without any name dropping and with quite a bit of channeling Patrick Swayze in Road House, specifically as it relates to professionalism, treating people well, and "being nice".

And then... a scene that ultimately reads much as the church scene from the original Kingsmen movie played out. I don't want to go into too many details and spoil the scene, but this scene will very likely be one of the most memorable scenes in the entire book for readers, perhaps even above and beyond even his wedding (which, as he mentioned in the text, he did put pictures of on Instagram, and they truly were absolutely stunning) or anything he has done to date (as of the writing of the book) in WWE. This scene is *BEYOND* bonkers, and it really shows Kesar in all of his abilities outside of WWE.

Overall a very easily read and very approachable book about a guy that even guys that consider themselves dangerous likely would at minimum pay extra attention to if they saw him on the street, and yet the text shows that Kesar's mind is at least as skillful as anything he can make his large, muscular body do. A guy who is much more easily approached here, at the standoff distance of a book, than he ever is staring into a camera with that fire in his eyes. Kesar takes pains to make sure the reader understands that he knows 100% that Kross is a character, and that outside of WWE work, Kross prefers to be known as "Kevin" - even among friends he works with. Yet he also does a damn good job of showing that while Kross may be borderline (or even well beyond borderline) psychotic, Kevin is a very sane - yet also still quite dangerous, when he needs to be - man. One who is, despite his appearances (both intentional and not, at times), as much a philosopher as a fighter - and thus proves to be as adept at writing as he is at fighting... and breaking bats. (Check his Instagram for that last. ;) )

Very much recommended.

Short, Accessible Primer On The Field. While a lot of the 2* reviews criticize this book claiming that the author "never defined 'axe murder'" and that the overall narrative "lacks cohesion" and/ or "doesn't show enough murder", I feel like these reviewers are being perhaps too pendantic and/ or legalistic. Instead, the author makes clear - repeatedly - that this book is about the evolution of both the axe and its use as a mechanism of killing humans - regardless of whatever government decrees at the time may or may not excuse certain individuals (particularly those working for said governments) for killing their fellow humans. For those of us who feel that *any* killing of *any* human for *any* reason is murder... this book is absolutely a primer on the history of axe murder, in all of its varying forms over the expanse of human existence.

The book begins with the earliest axes and the among the earliest proto-humans, showing that injuries above the "hat line" of the head are generally considered "intentional acts" (ie, murder) rather than accidental, as that particular region of the head is apparently difficult to injure accidentally, at least according to the text here. There is apparently at least one example of just such an injury in an early protohuman that seems to have been caused by one of the earliest, flint-knapped, hand-held axes, before handles were later added to axes, and this history is the core of the beginning of the book.

The book then goes through the evolution of the axe and its uses as tool for clearing land - and in warfare and government-sanctioned executions, particularly during the reign of Henry VIII of England - all the way up to the 2020s in showing how homeless people will often carry an axe (or its smaller form, a hatchet) as a basic tool of survival in the streets, both for clearing debris and, when needed, for personal defense. And yes, Lizzie Borden is discussed along the way.

Indeed, the one area the book is lacking, the reason for the star deduction - and the reason one *should* be at least somewhat skeptical of the author's perhaps more fantastical claims, including those about modern era homeless people, is that at just 13% documentation, this book falls short of even my more relaxed standards of 15% documentation, much less my older, more stringent need to see at least 20% documentation. Carl Sagan had it right in proclaiming his standard of "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence", and sadly, this book is simply lacking - if by not much - in this regard. A more complete bibliography could have landed this in the 5* territory, it simply wasn' present in the Advance Review Copy of the book I read.

Overall this really is a short, well written, approachable and understandable primer on the general topic of humans killing other humans (ie, humans committing murder) with a particular tool (the axe, in all of its various forms) over the course of human evolution. Yes, it is missing many key details and events, but in its brevity it is clear that it is meant to be more a primer of the topic than any extensive discussion thereof, and as a primer it works remarkably well to encourage people to do their own research into the topic, should they be so inclined.

Very much recommended.

Twisty Tale Packs A Lot Of Action Into Its Short-Ish Package. This is one of those sub-300 page books that is going to feel like it *has* to be longer than it is... in all the best ways. For all that happens here, you're going to be thinking this book is probably 100 or more pages longer than it actually is... and you're not even going to notice until you get to the end, look down, and question your sense of reality when you see the actual page number.

And speaking of questioning reality, this is absolutely one of those ultra twisty psychological thrillers where both the characters - and you, the reader - will be questioning all that you know (possibly even in your own "real" life) by the end.

I've read several of Mercer's books now, and this is absolutely both a solid look at her style (for new readers) and quite easily among the best she's done to date (for readers who have been around a while and already get excited when they see her name on a book). Either newbie or established fan, this one is one that will likely gain her far more fans than it loses. (Let's face it, *no* book is for everyone, and there *will* eventually be - wrong - reviews that claim this book is lacking in some aspect. Some people are idiots, and you just have to move on. ;) (And yes, I fully acknowledge that some consider *me* to be an idiot, but I also doubt those people are reading this review. :D) )

There will be at least some who don't want to read it for the simple reason of its basic premise, which largely hinges on mothers' fears, even years after the baby is born, which is respectable. As a childfree married dude, I *fully* get this, particularly given the book's release date between UK Mother's Day and US Mother's Day. For these types, I think the book is strong enough and doesn't really dive into too many problematic issues within the childfree community that I think many of us can still enjoy this book as much as I have, but again, from this angle (and similar), I absolutely get deciding that this book maybe isn't for you. Just please, I beg you - you've now been warned about this in this very review, so PLEASE don't DNF / 1* this book because of these issues. Just skip it entirely. You. Have. Been. Warned. :)

Overall truly an excellent tale superbly told, and great for when you maybe don't have as much time as you'd LIKE to read, but still don't want to read a sub-200 page book either (even though there are many at that length that are also awesome, fwiw).

Very much recommended.

Likely To Be Controversial In Booklandia. Straight up, in making plausible arguments *for* the use of AI in writing, this is going to be a book that will prove quite controversial in booklandia - one area of society that tends to be the most extremist in terms of being absolutely anti-AI, even moreso than visual artists. Even as the book *also* makes strong arguments *against* the use of AI in writing... and ultimately sides with that position, as it is the position of our lead character.

Additionally, in serving as a fairly direct and in-your-face expose and commentary about the publishing industry more broadly, this book is likely to stir up quite a bit of controversy on these topics that already get some discussion in particular circles, with this book perhaps widening those circles and introducing new people to these discussions. Will anything actually get resolved? Unlikely, mostly because humanity rarely actually solves any problems - even among the more objective/ scientific variety. But more people will be talking about them, and assuming at least a few of them reference that they saw the discussion in this book, Gold will likely garner at least some extra attention herself.

Outside of these two factors, the tale itself ultimately becomes a bit of a bumbling crime saga, with the various characters being both so brash and so stupid in some ways that it plays quite well comedically... so I *hope* that is what Gold was after there. These scenes, as objectively serious as they are, involving a major crime, wind up providing the levity that the heavy handed discussions of the "inside baseball" of publishing and the more general use of AI within booklandia so desperately need in order to lighten the overall book at least enough to be a pleasant enough read.

Ultimately this is likely a book that will play better for those interested in the heavier discussions herein than with those just looking for some level of escape - particularly those of us who are already "in the industry" to some flavor (yes, I include even myself here, as a book blogger / book "influencer" (according to some authors, though I still despise the term myself) / Head Librarian at Goodreads alternative Hardcover.app). Still, an interesting book regardless, with commentary from perspectives even authors themselves may not have had coming into this book.

Very much recommended.