New Bethlehem, Connecticut: think pristine lawns and designer athleisure and the kind of money that smooths everything over… until it doesn’t.
Devon and Belle have it all: beauty and power and influence but they’re bored and restless and looking for a little danger. so they throw a party. not just any party - an invite only pressure cooker of secrets and egos and bad decisions. a washed-up NFL quarterback. a sleazy hockey coach. a Wall Street shark who eats people for fun.
one night. too much alcohol. too many lies.
and one dead body.
New Bethlehem’s perfect little world cracks wide open.
well dang… james frey continues to show me that he can write a captivating story.
something i love about frey’s books is they feel like real stories of real people (they probably are). the characters are easy to connect to. the story feels like watching a reality show unfold.
i love how frey gives just enough information about the location (new bethlehem) to provide meaningful context to the story without making it boring.
also loved that i can see parts of frey in some of the characters (charlie).
i read bright shiny morning when it was released years ago while i lived on the east coast. i was moved by the story. i was devastated by the story. i was attached to the characters in the story. but i had no context for life in/around LA. i moved to LA years later and re-read the book and i couldn’t help but feel like james wrote about several people that he had experienced or known. and that’s how i feel about this book.
several times while reading, i had to actively remind myself that these were characters and not my friends. i couldn’t stop thinking about the book.
james’ writing style has always been something that captivated me, so i deeply loved this book because his style and voice is once again so prevalent throughout.
and not to mention... the ending slaps.
(6/5 stars)