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Table of Contents
About The Book
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
“[An] ingenious jigsaw puzzle of a book...highly entertaining.” —The New York Times
“The queen of found footage thrillers.” —Julia Bartz, New York Times bestselling author
A whip-smart and “fast-paced mystery” (The Daily Telegraph, London) from the internationally bestselling author of The Twyford Code and The Appeal about a true crime journalist who revives a long-buried case about a cult—and finds herself too close to the story.
Everyone knows the story of the Alperton Angels: the cult who brainwashed a teenage girl into believing her baby was the anti-Christ. When the girl came to her senses and called the police, the Angels committed suicide and mother and baby disappeared.
Now, true crime author Amanda Bailey is looking to revive her career by writing a book on the case. The Alperton baby has turned eighteen; finding them will be the scoop of the year. But rival author Oliver Menzies is just as smart, better connected, and also on the baby’s trail.
As Amanda and Oliver are forced to collaborate, they realize that the truth about the Angels is much darker and stranger than they’d ever imagined, and in pursuit of the story they risk becoming part of it.
“[An] ingenious jigsaw puzzle of a book...highly entertaining.” —The New York Times
“The queen of found footage thrillers.” —Julia Bartz, New York Times bestselling author
A whip-smart and “fast-paced mystery” (The Daily Telegraph, London) from the internationally bestselling author of The Twyford Code and The Appeal about a true crime journalist who revives a long-buried case about a cult—and finds herself too close to the story.
Everyone knows the story of the Alperton Angels: the cult who brainwashed a teenage girl into believing her baby was the anti-Christ. When the girl came to her senses and called the police, the Angels committed suicide and mother and baby disappeared.
Now, true crime author Amanda Bailey is looking to revive her career by writing a book on the case. The Alperton baby has turned eighteen; finding them will be the scoop of the year. But rival author Oliver Menzies is just as smart, better connected, and also on the baby’s trail.
As Amanda and Oliver are forced to collaborate, they realize that the truth about the Angels is much darker and stranger than they’d ever imagined, and in pursuit of the story they risk becoming part of it.
Excerpt
Chapter 1: Correspondence, Background Reading, and General Prep 1 Correspondence, Background Reading, and General Prep
About The Author
Gaia Banks
Janice Hallett is a former magazine editor, award-winning journalist, and government communications writer. She wrote articles and speeches for, among others, the Cabinet Office, Home Office, and Department for International Development. Her enthusiasm for travel has taken her around the world several times, from Madagascar to the Galapagos, Guatemala to Zimbabwe, Japan, Russia, and South Korea. A playwright and screenwriter, she penned the feminist Shakespearean stage comedy NetherBard and cowrote the feature film Retreat. She lives in London and is the author of The Examiner, The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, The Appeal, The Christmas Appeal, and The Twyford Code.
Why We Love It
“If I could switch brains with one of my authors, I would likely choose Janice Hallett. How does she construct an intricate, stylistically innovative mystery time and time again? And how does she do it without repeating herself? In The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, she returns to the email, IM, and WhatsApp formats that won her and The Appeal legions of fans, while also including book extracts and even excerpts from an unpublished screenplay. This story feels so visceral and authentic that by the end, I was Googling to make sure the Alperton Angels weren’t a real group. And as a kid who stayed up way past her bedtime reading, I feel compelled to tell you that I stayed up too late to read this in a single sitting. I just couldn’t go to sleep without knowing how it ended.”
—Kaitlin O., Executive Editor, on The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels
Product Details
- Publisher: Atria Books (January 23, 2024)
- Length: 432 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668023396
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Raves and Reviews
"[A] highly entertaining tale."
—The New York Times
"Hallett masterfully tells her intricate story through emails, What’s App messages, screenplays and manuscripts designed to both entertain and deliberately confuse the reader.”
—The Washington Post
“[M]any-layered, highly complex, and imaginative… Hallett shocks readers with satisfying twists and a dark, unpredictable ending… True crime tackles angels and demons in this devilishly good tale.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Janice Hallett, the author of The Appeal and The Twyford Code, is on a roll. In this quirky, clever tale, two rival true-crime authors are delving into the case of the Alperton Angels.”
—The Times
“Janice Hallett is the queen of found footage thrillers. Using emails, Whats App messages, articles, transcribed interviews, and even pages from a screenplay, Hallett draws readers into the world of Amanda Bailey, a true crime writer whose investigation of a cult stirs up more danger and intrigue than she ever could've imagined. Hallett brilliantly plays with memory and truth and asks what we're willing to do to protect those we love most. A masterful and crescendoing sense of suspense hurtles the novel towards a truly memorable climax.”
—Julia Bartz, New York Times bestselling author of The Writing Retreat
“Fiendishly clever and thoroughly unique. Hallett is reinventing the genre, one WhatsApp message at a time. I loved every gloriously twisty page.”
—Deanna Raybourn, New York Times bestselling author of Killers of a Certain Age
“Dark, witty, and twisty...Fans of true-crime podcasts will find this complex and eerie novel just as satisfying, surprising and rapidly consumable as their favorite episodes.”
—Shelf Awareness
“Only a truly incredible brain could produce the puzzle-box marvel that is The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels—days after finishing, I’m still turning over the clues, slack-jawed in awe. Hallett modernizes the epistolary novel, presenting the twisty (and twisted) demise of an apocalyptic cult via emails and texts, giving readers the immersive experience of investigating alongside the book’s journalists. This story is fresh, wildly clever, and impossible to put down. Janice Hallett is a singular talent—she and her brilliant stories are in a league of their own.”
—Ashley Winstead, author of Midnight is the Darkest Hour
“What a treat to be back in a world created by the machiavellian Janice Hallett ... Another cracking mystery from a highly original author.”
—Observer
“What is remarkable is Hallett's ability to make her characters come alive... combined with her undoubted skill as a plotter, this places Hallett's books in the rare category of rereadable whodunnits.”
—Telegraph
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