Thank you Blackstone Publishing, #partner, for the advanced copy of Lilith in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Published: March 19, 2024
Summary:
From the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of I Am Not Who You Think I Am—a New York Times Thriller of the Year—comes Lilith, an incendiary powerhouse of a novel that strikes straight at the wounded heart of America.
After her son Lydan suffers traumatic injuries in a school shooting, single mom Elisabeth Ross grows enraged at men in power. If they won’t do anything to help end this epidemic of violence, she will. Believing it’s her destiny, she sets out to awaken the world to the cowards these men are and commits her own shocking act of violence.
Going by the name Lilith—the first wife of Adam who fled Eden rather than serve a man—she posts a video of her crime that reverberates throughout society.
Praised by some, demonized by others, and sought by the FBI and vigilantes alike, Elisabeth must keep her identity a secret as she tries to care for her son.
As events take startling twists, Elisabeth begins to question her act of violence and the very roots and mythology of violence itself. Was her act justified or has she become the monster that the original Lilith was accused of being?
When the FBI draws closer, and Lydan starts to display odd, terrifying behavior, Elisabeth plots to avoid capture and keep her son safe, fearing she’ll never escape what she’s done without losing her son forever.
Written with Rickstad’s singular command of language, human insight, and unnerving suspense, Lilith is a tale of our times. Tragic and profound, it echoes in the mind and lingers in the blood.
My thoughts:
I have been a fan of Eric Rickstad’s books for years, so when I was asked if I wanted to read this book, I didn’t hesitate. It’s a departure from his usual type of book, but no less amazing and it’s one I encourage everyone to read.
This book is incredibly powerful, intense and timely. It’s not an easy read by any means, yet it’s one that I know I will not stop thinking about anytime soon. I read it in two sittings because I just could not put it down. The writing is so gripping and the subject all too familiar – a school shooting and the aftermath. This one hits hard! While I am not a mother, I am a former teacher and come from a family of teachers. It’s a book that I don’t think anyone can read and not have an emotional response to.
I’m old enough to remember having air raid drills in school and now kids practice lockdown drills. It’s moments like this that are so hard-hitting in the book, making it that much more effective and producing such rage against the whole system. Just this line alone got to me:
“I had a student ask me earlier that day, before we had our lockdown drill, if I had to practice for shooting when I was a kid–because that’s what we do now, practice for shootings, practice for being slaughtered–and I said no, things were different back then, and she asked why, and I said I guess we were kinder back then…”
This book is intense and it will probably make you feel uncomfortable – and it should! It’s going to evoke all types of emotions, from anger to rage to sadness to fear and a host of others. But it’s also the type of book that is going to foster discussion and that is what we need. This book took the author years to write so that he got it just right. He approached with such a level of sensitivity, purposely not giving the shooter any due, which I completely applaud.
I implore you to add this to your reading list and then find someone to talk about it with…message me if you need to. It’s a book everyone should be reading, heck, I’d go as far as saying it should be required reading! This book will without a doubt be one of my top reads of the year and one I’ll be recommending to everyone!
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