I'm not sure what I just listened to. I'm not even sure if I liked it or not, but I'm going to be thinking about it for a long time.

I loved this book!

It might now be everyone's cup of tea, but I found myself comparing it (favorably) to a couple of my favorite authors: Roberto Bolaños and Mark Z Danielewski.

The author does a good job of keeping things vague and unsettling without reaching the point of frustration. I found myself thinking about this book all the time, wondering how (or if) the multiple strands would connect, and what would happen next to deepen the mystery.

Excellent narration makes this a very listenable book, which I highly recommend!

This book was unique to say the least and I REALLY want to reread it because I did not understand this and I am okay with this because it was a great experience listening to this book

Thanks #netgallery. The Scapegoat was at times humorous, confusing, and over the top. Very fun and thought provoking. I read some reviews that made light of the character going by an initial. I thought this was perfect for the life and job that he has. Recommended.

N is employed by a California university. He is investigating his father’s death. We do not know, and do not learn from this book: whether either of those statements is true, N’s name, his job, how is father died, why N feels the death needs investigation, whether anything N says is true, whether there are 1, 2 or 3 women in this book and what may or may not have happened to any of them. The list goes on. I assume this sort of obfuscation in a book is intended to be modern and clever, but I just found it annoying. I was really glad that this book is short. I doubt that I would read anything else by this author. I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher. 2.5 stars

This rating is a reflection of my enjoyment of the book rather than its quality. I think this book went over my head. I found the language alienating, it was very stilted and mechanical, although this may have also been the narrator of the audiobook.

I am generally fine with an unlikable protagonist, but this guy is unlikable and also kind of boring. The action moves very slowly and I was not at all invested in N or his "investigation." Honestly, if the book hadn't been so short I would not have finished it.

N wants to know more about his father and as a listener (I received the audiobook version of this book) I wanted to know more about N. I did not trust N and I did not really trust his perception. I don't think he had a great handle on his world. I think that helps make the story feel real in a sense. This was a short book and it was worth the listen. I did find the story to be thought provoking.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

The Scapegoat is a shorter, complex story about the narrator, N, a university employee who is investigating the death of his father, who had worked at the same university. Because of the type of narrator and the shifts between reality and what may not be reality at all, this book is a little difficult to follow, especially in auto format. While I found the writing well done and the concept interesting, I was left feeling lost or like I'd missed an important point in the novel that left me feeling like there wasn't really a conclusion to this novel.

I think that I may have had an easier time with the plot if I'd read the physical copy instead of listening on audio, as it would have helped better ground me in the book (and make it easier to go back and re-read a section when I was confused.)

I enjoy this narrator's voice. However, his narration is VERY slow. Typically, I would listen to this one on 1.25 or 1.5 speed. However, because I am listening on NetGalley's app (which I mistakenly understood they had updated to correct the errors in the speed issues), it was unlistenable. I will add this to my audiobook wish list, however, because the first 25% was intriguing, but did not flow well at the slow 1.0 reading pace.

First off i am utterly grateful to the publishers and netgalley. I have to say this book started off very strong and the audiobook was lovely, loved the narrrator(s) but as it contunued i was left confused and more confused and even when i finished it, I was left confused. The plot didn't shock me and it didn't really feel like a thriller.

I would give this book 3.5 stars. It was good. Different then any other thriller I have read. It was just to short! I guess I like mote length but to a book.

Reviewing
The Scapegoat
By Sara Davis

In my opinion, The Scapegoat by Sara Davis is best described as a short, phycological, unsolved mystery that will leave readers just as confused as “N,” the unreliable narrator.

The narrator, “N,” is a loner secretary with anti-social tendencies and appears to battle with Schizophrenia. We join “N” who is investigating his father’s death, which keeps leading to a strange hotel and the University hospital where he and his father previously worked. He appears to be collecting credible clues such as his father’s briefcase and an alternate identity. However, it’s two steps forward and one step back as readers are left to decipher reality from hallucination.

I went back to reread multiple parts of the book, making notes to stay on track, and I am still left wondering what the heck I just read?!?

If strange, chaotic, and unsettling are your cup of tea, then this might be the book for you. I don’t mind a bit of a cliff hanger or a mysterious ending, but Davis offers readers no closer or perhaps I just missed it.....

⭐️⭐️✨ 2.5 unfortunately stars for this intriguing yet inevitably infuriating read. R rating as this is for mature readers only.

N (the narrator) is a university professor and oddball who’s thrust into an odd situation. Unexpectedly, he sets off to investigate the mystery surrounding the death of his estranged father. Then he meets all sorts of characters who lead him to a hotel that on the outside appears to hold secrets and/or a surrounding conspiracy.

The thing is that I just didn’t “get” this book. What was real? What was a dream? What was in the future? Despite the audiobook being just over 5 hours, I likely spent 7 hours re-listening to the story to try and figure out what I was missing. For this reason, it’s not a book that I’d recommend to others. That said, I found that the narrator, Michael Brusaso, did a perfectly fine job. It was just the content I didn’t love.

Special thanks to Dreamscape Media for a free listener copy of the book via the NetGalley app. This is my honest review.

NetGalley gave me the opportunity to listen to the audio book
I feel like I need to process some of it or do I?
The story reads like a man lost in the chaos and discombobulation of his own mind. We are taken along on that journey with him never quite knowing when we are weaving in and out of whichever part of the reality he’s in

Aside from his his journey I found the main character to he rathe lack luster and dare I say boring
His adventure and the authors ability to take you on a literary journey still have me in my head wondering what the hell I just listened to

The Scapegoat is a unique and upending reading experience. Every sentence on its own seems to exist nearly in the world of the rational, at least enough for me to keep reading with my guard down, and to keep thinking 'well, that's a little weird, but understandable...' and then before very long I realize that the story has steered me into completely unknown territory where anything can happen, and where I as a reader am sharing the paranoia and the distress of the protagonist. I've sunk into his way of looking at the world. I'm unable to see my way forward in the story or to predict what will happen next.

For a while even after I was done reading the novel, my world still looked a little odd to me, and a little threatening. The unease lingered. There is a level of particularity of detail in the language of the novel that mimics normal life and then subtly distorts it into something monstrous and chaotic and threatening...or maybe, it lets you see just how odd the world is to begin with. It's absolutely a one-of-a-kind reading experience.

Thanks to FSG for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook--the narrator was perfect for the character. I've bought the book since, because I want the opportunity to read it at my own pace and to learn more about just how this novel works. Wonderful.

The book is narrated by “N,” a “secretary” at a Northern California medical school who is conducting his own investigation into his father’s passing. Through his actions and inner monologue, the reader can deduce that N is often confused about his father’s death, loses track of time, and enters into dream-like states where he then meshes the people and conversations from the dreams with reality. He is a bit of a loaner with an anti-social personality, so the reader doesn’t glimpse any “outside looking in” perspectives -- the story seems to be entirely N’s point of view.

At points, N appears to collect credible clues that take him to a hotel his father visited. He discovers his father’s briefcase and alternate identity -- with this, I believe he was gaining momentum toward closure surrounding his father’s death or disappearance; apparently, I missed something because I closed the book just as confused as N - I didn’t get any closure. I replayed multiple sections of the book to gain a better understanding of what was going on. I double-checked my notes on the clues and N’s thought processes; however, at about two-thirds in, I gave up and just finished the novel as a frustrated reader.

At this point, I’ll have to research to find *spoiler* reviews and/or wait until my reading group discusses it in hopes of getting some insight as to what really happened and make sense of some of the scenes and interactions N has with either real or imagined characters.

As mentioned, this was an audiobook; I’m not sure if this form factor affected my ability to comprehend this style of storytelling, but at this point, I don’t think I want to devote any more time to properly “read” it.

The Scapegoat by Sara Davis is a fast-paced, short, surreal mystery with an unreliable narrator. It is compulsively readable with short chapters, so I got through this one quickly. The narrator is investigating his father’s death, which keeps leading him to a strange hotel with a dark history and the University hospital where he works and his father previously worked. The narrator keeps finding clues which propel him back to the mysterious hotel again and again. Things keep changing and the narrator loses time, so it’s hard to know what’s really going on. It reminded me a little of The Night Film by Marisha Pessl. This is one of those books where you find yourself going back to different parts to try to figure out what's actually happening. The audiobook is well-narrated by Michael Brusasco, who fits how I picture the book's narrator. Pacing and conversation can be a little awkward, which fits the narrator. The story was very unsettling and strange, but very interesting.

Thank you Dreamscape Media / Farrar, Straus, and Giroux and NetGalley for providing this audiobook and ebook ARC.