I loved "A Flaw in the Design" by Nathan Oates! A twisted mystery about a dangerous young man, and the family embracing him. Very good! Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

This story was pretty middle of the road for me. The writing was excellent but I didn’t feel very entertained. I was left with some questions by the end of it. Wish I enjoyed it more.

This definitely was sufficiently eerie, successfully communicating how disturbing and problematic Gil's nephew is, and the quiet upheaval he causes when he comes to live with Gil's family after the death of his parents. If you're considering reading this one, I'd suggest not reading the synopsis too closely as it really communicates almost the entire plot, which means there isn't much that is left to discover.

This book is awesome! Creative Writing professor, Gil and wife Molly have 2 lovely young girls when they are "forced" to take in nephew Matthew when his parents die in a gruesome car accident. Fortunately, Matthew is inheriting millions of dollars so that takes a little pressure off Gil and family who are struggling to make ends meet. But the events that follow Matthew's stay are anything but "fortunate," as Gil is swept up in a maelstrom of crazy decisions that affect his entire family as well as his class! The pacing is fast, dialogue is slick, and I couldn't tear myself away!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

This was a real quick read, I loved the flow of the book and found the pace to be almost perfect. It flew by and I wanted more when it ended. I would definately read Nathan again!

4 stars

This girl is catching up.,,

I’m a reader. I’ll read 3 books in day to soothe my soul and then I come across a banger like this one and I have to stop in my tracks and take a minute to brag.

This book is brag worthy and I am so here for it .

I was about to tuck myself in and tell myself night night but I just had to pick up one last book.

A Flaw In The Design

Y’all! You need this book! My heart was racing my pulse couldn’t be found and I was so hear for it!!!

I’m not one for spoilers but I will tell you, I’ve read it, I loved it and you need to read it for yourself :

Teaser :

A professor’s life is turned upside down when he takes in his charming, wildly dangerous nephew, whose wealthy parents have just died under mysterious circumstances, in this propulsive, edge-of-your-seat debut psychological thriller.

“An absolute page-turner . . . I read it in a single sitting.”—Miranda Cowley Heller, bestselling author of The Paper Palace

The cleverest psychopaths hide in plain sight.

Gil is living a quiet life as a creative writing professor in a bucolic Vermont town, when he receives some shocking news: His sister and her husband have been killed in a car accident, and their only son is coming to live with him and his family.

Gil and his wife are apprehensive about taking in seventeen-year-old Matthew. Yes, he has just lost both his parents, but they haven’t seen him in seven years—and the last time the families were together, Matthew lured their young daughter into a terrifying, life-threatening situation. Since that incident, Gil has been estranged from his sister and her flashy, wealthy banker husband.

Now Matthew is their charge, living under their roof.

The boy seems charming, smart, and urbane, if strangely unaffected by his parents’ deaths. Gil hopes they can put the past behind them, though he’s surprised when Matthew signs up for his creative writing class. Then Matthew begins turning in chilling stories about the imagined deaths of Gil’s family and his own parents. Bewildered and panicked, Gil ultimately decides he must take matters into his own hands—before life imitates art.

Told in limber, mesmerizing prose, A Flaw in the Design is a twisting novel of suspense that brilliantly explores the tensions surrounding class, family, and the drive to control one’s own story.

Here’s a modern take on the proverbial Bad Seed, featuring an average, struggling-to-get-by family forced to take in a (possibly nefarious) teenager after his parents are killed.
After a past family vacation is cut short by an alarming incident instigated by his nephew, Matthew, Gil has had no relationship with his sister or her family. This changes when his sister and her husband die unexpectedly and Matthew comes to live with them. Although the boy seems to be playing by the rules, and charming the pants off everyone around him, Gil is certain that Matthew is putting on an act and is on constant alert, watching and waiting for Matthew to eventually show his true, malevolent colors.
I very much enjoyed this tale of family discord. The continual thrum of tension that ran throughout the story was well done and compelling. If you’re a fan of psychological dramas, I would recommend.
Thanks to #netgalley and #randomhouse for this #arc of #aflawinthedesign by #nathanoates in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! Was this a wild ride! The battle between an uncle who's convinced his nephew is evil and said nephew who's just lost his parents and goes to live with his suspicious uncle. I did not see the ending coming. Finally, a thriller that truly thrills.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the copy to review.

A Flaw in the Design didn’t quite do it for me. Both Mathew and Gil annoyed me. And the ending left me hanging. Perhaps someone who enjoys the process of writing would appreciate the literary references but they all went over my head. I did love the concept of the story. Just would have liked some tweaks on execution.

Gil Dugan is a creative writing professor at a small Vermont college. He moved to Vermont with his wife and two daughters to escape the stress he felt in New York. They are dealing with their own family issues relatively well when they receive word that Gil’s sister and husband have been killed in a suspicious car truck accident. They also learn that his sister’s only son will be coming to live with them. The last time they saw this nephew, Matthew, was about seven years ago and that visit didn’t end well. Gil believes that during that visit Matthew tried to drown Gil’s younger daughter. Matthew arrives and things are tense at first, but he seems to be trying to fit in and be helpful. Things start to get tense again when Matthew enrolls in the creative writing class that Gil is teaching and his stories that he submits for the class are very troubling to Gil.

The author does an excellent job of building the tension in the story and compels you to keep reading to find out the truth about the accident that killed Gil’s sister and husband. You want to keep reading to find out if Matthew is the psychopath that Gil believes him to be.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the ARC.

Gil and his wife have taken in their nephew, Mathew, against their better judgment. Gil teaches creative writing courses, and he's surprised when Mathew signs up for one of his classes. When Mathew starts turning in stories about the death's of Gil's family and even his own parents, Gil decides he needs to get to the bottom of what's going on with Mathew. No matter what.

This is the best kind of thriller It left me guessing with every turn of the page!

A Flaw in the Design is a slow burn literary thriller that kept me turning the pages well into the night. The crazy twisted game of cat and mouse between Matthew and Gil had me on the edge of my seat. Kudos to Nathan Oates on your debut novel. Well done!

Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance digital copy. This is my honest review and the opinions expressed are my own

5 stars!!! Fast paced, and kept me wondering. No loose ends. Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hmm, when I was finished, I felt like I needed answers. Not so much answers toward the book, but answers toward my feelings. So, I read others' reviews and it validated, or at least put into words what I was feeling, that something was missing.

This book had all the potential of being stellar, but it just didn't get there. So much time was spent focused on Gil's paranoia that even I (someone who loves reading and <i>feeling</i> a character's anxiety) was ready for it to be over.

While I did like the character development of Matthew, I sort of wish we had some chapters from HIS point of view. Like, "yes I'm psycho and have thoughts of harming people, but I'm literally doing nothing and my uncle is freaking out. It's fun tormenting him by playing games and being an angel around his family, who have clearly fallen in love me and forgotten about the past." I mean, that would have switched it up a bit.

Gil was making so many fumbling mistakes, I just couldn't take the book seriously. And when the conflict at the end came (which, you knew it was coming), it felt predictable, forced, rushed, and anti-climactic.

Why 3 stars and not less? Because the writing style was good. I really enjoyed reading the words that Nathan Oates, the author, put on paper. They flowed well for me. And there were parts of the story I did enjoy. But, overall, this one just missed the mark for a great suspense novel.

I liked the author’s writing style. I got immersed in the environment at certain points. Unfortunately though, for me, this book was a slog to get through, but I’m not really sure why. I don’t know if I just didn’t connect with one of the main characters, or maybe because I found him quite annoying and weird for an adult. But I pushed through and kept reading, because I had to find out if Gil was right or not! I was satisfied with the ending and the time spent reading ended up not being in vain.

3.5/4 stars

If you enjoy unreliable narrators with a large dose of paranoia, then this is the book for you! Gil, a creative writing professor at a college in Vermont, learns that his only (and very wealthy) sister and her husband died in a tragic car accident. His only nephew Matthew, 17 years old and a bit of a wild card, must come live with Gil, his wife and two daughters. Except Gil has major hesitation after witnessing a life-threatening situation play out with Matthew and his daughter the last time they were all together.

What entails is a slow-paced, insecure rant from Gil's perspective. I'll admit -- I wanted to dump this book for the first 25% or so, but eventually I became too intrigued to know the truth. Is Gil just overthinking his nephew's entire existence... or is Matthew really a psychopath?

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 Who To Blame Stars
Oh, this has a very interesting premise. A Flaw in the Design is just that. There are two families, related but very different from each other. The status of one is high, wealthy, with a son, and set in the way society plays. The other is making a go of it, a professor at a small college with two daughters.

There is a conflict of course, and this conflict caused by the son to one of the daughters causes an estrangement. Then the unthinkable happens. The parents of the son die in a horrible car accident and the only people to take care of the 17-year-old son is the uncle who has been distant for years.

What happens next is the cat-and-mouse game all about jealousy, wealth, envy, and terror. Interesting Tale.

The Duggan family, Gil, his wife Molly and their children Chloe and Ingrid were living a quiet life in Vermont. Due to the mysterious death of his sister Sharon and her husband Niles, their family was advised that they’d have to take in their nephew Matthew until he finished the school year.
Gil and his family had not seen his sisters family since he insinuated that something tragically dangerous had happened at their home on their last visit, possibly because of Matthew. Due to this event, Gil is skeptical about having his nephew in his home. Gil, over time actually creates negative stories in his mind about Matthew and his attitude toward him declines.
Matthew is now enrolled in Gil’s Fiction Writing class. Matthew proceeds to write chilling stories about Gil’s family as well as his own parents demise. This sends Gil reeling.
A private investigator calls Gil to advise him that they may have a suspect in his sister’s case. He has also been advised not to leave the country. Also he is told that Matthew should not leave as well. As time goes on Gil’s suspicions get worse and lead to this story becoming a page turner all the way up to the ending.
A Flaw in the Design seemed more like a suspense novel to me. Although the premise and the storyline were entertaining, I did not enjoy these characters and that made the story drag a bit in the beginning for me, but after awhile it picked up at around 50-65%. I also wanted Gil to stop calling Matthew “the boy”. I’m guessing this was part of the writing style and I had to force myself to get used to this to finish the book.
I was extremely happy to find out about Gil’s past in NYC. It helped me with analysis of his character and motives.
I especially enjoyed the ending of this story. It could possibly be considered a cliff hanger, however it was a good ending just the same. I’d give this story 3.5 stars. Good Reads does not have a half star for ratings.

Have you ever felt like something was off with someone? Like there was a more sinister side to them?

When Gil’s seventeen-year-old nephew comes to live with his family, he’s apprehensive about taking him in. His sister and her husband were killed in a car accident, so naturally he feels it’s his responsibility to care for him. But the last time Gil saw Matthew was seven years ago when he was visiting his sister’s family, and Matthew had allegedly lured Gil’s daughter into a life-threatening situation.

Now Gil is trying to put the past behind him, but Matthew is showing signs that he hasn’t changed one bit. For starters, he has displayed no signs of grief since his parents’ deaths, which in and of itself is a bit of a red flag. He also submits stories to Gil’s creative writing class that are extremely unsettling and touch on matters that are a little too close to home. Gil quickly becomes unhinged by his obsession to prove that his nephew is not as charming as everyone thinks he is, and as his fear for his family’s safety grows, he decides to take matters into his own hands.

I thought this was a suspenseful and intriguing read, especially because no one seems to know the real Matthew. He lets others see what he wants them to see, and Gil is the only one that sees the little devil on his shoulder. Matthew knows he’s feeding into his uncles obsession with him, and after a while you begin to question. Who is the cat and who is the mouse in the game. The end was a bit of a shocker, though not the ending I expected. Either way, it is totally worth reading and I look forward to reading more from Nathan Oates.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing a copy of this book to review.*

I like the plot, even though I don’t love how it develops. An uncle has to take care of his nephew after his parents unexpectedly passed away. But the teenager has a not so great history with his family. He has to grieve his niece and yet at the same time accept that the boy is maybe a better person now. The first thing he does is enroll in his uncle’s fiction class. And some of the writings make the uncle wonder if he truly changed.