Emma Rosenblum's debut, BAD SUMMER PEOPLE, shines with flawed adults behaving badly—full of summer scandal, island gossip, lots of drama, backstabbing friendships, infidelity, intrigue, mystery, and MURDER.

Think Red Oaks (Loved-TV Series 2014-2017 available on Prime Video) Tennis: A coming-of-age comedy set in the 80s in summer at the Red Oaks Country Club —Except in BAD SUMMER PEOPLE, it is a new fresh, and contemporary set of 30s and 40s elite New Yorkers misbehaving on Fire Island. Still full of laughs!

AUDIOBOOK: Fun and frothy, a perfect beach read! I highly recommend the audiobook, narrated by the fabulous January LaVoy! (a favorite). The performance was highly entertaining, with distinctive voices for all characters, and easy to keep them separated—a 5-Star performance.

Grab a favorite cocktail and dive in!

Fire Island, NY, is known for the gay set; however, the town of Salcombe is an enclave of wealthy families spending their summers with the elite, playing tennis, golfing, drinking, competing, and attending the many annual events— plus lots of gossip, scandal, and affairs.

The novel opens with a tantalizing Prologue when eight-year-old Danny discovers a body. His mom is a B-lister. The author does not reveal the identity until the end, keeping you in suspense— deciding who may be capable of murder. Everyone is suspicious— the motives are endless.

We hear from each main character over the summer, from Memorial Day through Labor Day, told from multiple perspectives.

Arrival by ferry, trouble starts the minute they embark. There are camps and nannies—to keep the kids busy. Cars are not allowed, so everyone owns a bike or golf cart to ride around the boardwalks that serve as pathways.

Main Characters:
Lauren Parker, the ice queen.
Jason Parker, her cheating husband. Private equity investor.
Sam Weinstein, lawyer, Jason's best friend, and rival.
Jen Weinstein, his cheating wife.
There is a bitter rivalry over Sam's wife, Jen, whom Jason dated first.

A handsome, down-on-his-luck tennis pro and a lonely, unmarried gossip lady are also part of the cast that offers plenty to keep you entertained!

The single friend, Rachel Woolf, is the gossip queen (42) and is looking to meet her match, whether the tennis pro or someone's husband. The tennis pro is also up to no good. The events are overseen by a 70-something widow, Susan.

Jen Weinstein and Lauren Parker rule the town of Salcombe, Fire Island, every summer. They are fierce—in tennis, they manipulate to get what they want. The men measure themselves by their net worth and women by their tennis games.

In alternating POV, we get the down and dirty and everyone seems to know everyone's business. Envy and greed. Some derive pleasure from misfortunes.

The boardwalks are raised three feet and can often be dangerous if someone goes over the edge. But who is capable of MURDER? Did someone find out a secret that was to be kept hidden?

Everyone has secrets, and their lives are not as perfect as these characters would like you to believe. Darkness lurks below the surface—everyone is deceiving someone.

BAD SUMMER PEOPLE is a scandalous whodunit, fun, wickedly entertaining, darkly comic, and razor-sharp— summer sizzler! Hilarious, with a White Lotus, Big Little Lies vibe.

A smashing debut and guilty pleasure of big-time secrets —#CoverCrush! Rosenblum's book is under contract for screen adaptation, and she's been signed for an additional two books. Can't wait for more.

If you enjoyed BAD SUMMER PEOPLE, you may like The Block Party by Jamie Day (July 18, 2023).

Thanks to #MacmillanAudio for a gifted ALC via #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Blog Review Posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: May 23, 2023
My Rating: Audiobook: 5 🎾 Stars
May 2023 Must-Read Books

White Lotus meets a Hampton’s Tennis Club.

Marked as a thriller but this reads more like a drama with a murder thrown in for good fun. Incredibly rich deceitful people summer in Fire Island and everyone is deliciously horrible. Jen and Sam, Lauren and Jason, new to the scene tennis pro Robert, perpetually singly Susan. So many scandals, so much doubles tennis, and a main character named Susan Steinhagen.

Very entertaining summer read and I want to highly suggest the narrated version by January LaVoy. She’s phenomenal and you can tell has a blast with it all.

I really enjoyed the audiobook of this book. The plot for this book was great and kept me wanting to listen more.

This book went by so fast! I absolutely love the “rich people” drama. This is told through several POVs (with just the one narrator ugh) and we find out ALLLLLL of the tea from every possible angle and it is spectacular.

It starts with a kid finding a body and then we get a rewind until we find out exactly how that body ended up there. We learn all the drama of the different groups (really they’re cliques, it’s like adult high school) and how all this drama converges into an outcome of dead body.

I really couldn’t put this down. I didn’t even want to once. I was sucked in to the drama and just wanted to listen to it.

With the single narrator it was more difficult to remember who we were following at that moment, but it was doable and not too hard to follow. Thanks to NetGalley for the copy!

Fire Island is the home of many types of people during the summer. Salcombe is where the ultra-rich New Yorkers like to hang out. And keep lots of secrets. And do terrible things.

But it's a typical summer until a body turns up on the beach; what happened? And will anything ever be the same?

This book is a fantastic escapist read. However, if you don't like unlikeable characters (and no one is likable here), steer clear.

Though this book is mis-marketed as a thriller I still really enjoyed it! It’s not a thriller though it does have murder it lacks the suspense a thriller demands. This is more a drama. The lies, secrets, and very unlikeable characters makes a fun read. I enjoyed the uncovering of everyone’s secrets and the laughable moments of these very wealthy people. I also LOVED the audio! Narrated by January LaVoy I absolutely adored listening to it! January is now my favorite narrator. She truly made this book humorously enjoyable.

When the summer heat sets in, a group of friends settle in Salcombe for the summer. Salcombe is a small beach town that the elites of Manhattan like to call home for the summer season. The groups that reside there during the summer months love to golf, wine and dine at the yacht club and participate in highly competitive tennis matches.

The book opens up with the discovery of a body being found face down at the boardwalk almost at the end of the season. Then the reader is transported to the beginning of summer when everyone is arriving on the island and where it begins to unfold. Who in this group of people could possibly be a murderer? Which one of them is the body?

If you are a fan of rich people behaving badly then this is for you! None of the characters are very likable, but their conniving ways makes them enjoyable to read. This is a great summer, beachy, pool read for the 2023 season.

I thought this was a solid debut novel. The story was well done, but towards the end it was a bit of character overload. It read as though we were seeing multiple points of view and it wasn’t necessary to tie the story up. The murderer was clear about halfway through so not super suspenseful.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.

A bunch of rich folks who "summer" on Fire Island and are all cheating and lying. YES PLEASE!

The gang is a group of 30 and 40 somethings who spend their summers on Fire Island. They all have many. Some grew up coming here, some married into it. This is a "friends to your face" kind of crowd and there's a lot of gossip, betrayal, cheating, and lies. And I loved it! Add to the mix the uber attractive tennis pro at the that all the ladies can't stop talking about!

Stuff goes down. We know from the prologue that not everyone makes it out alive this summer. And it's a wild ride to get to the end.

Some secrets are kept until the end and it keeps you on the edge of your seat!

I really enjoyed the narration and loved the audio!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This is going to be one of my favorite summer reads. I loved the Solcombe setting and how people's lives changed so drastically during the summer. Everyone in this book was so intertwined in each other's lives but really didn't know each other on a personal level. The superficialness of everyone made this book and their bad behavior outrageous yet in some ways strangely believable.

Bad People Summer 

Bad People Summer is set on Fire Island near NYC. The rich travel from the city for the summer to their beach houses and chaos ensues. Some of these families have been on the island for years; houses passed down from their parents and they have grown up together. There are definite cliches on the island and not everyone is playing fair.

Holy unlikable characters! There is not one person on this island that I could stand. But this was such a fun story. I love a good "rich people behaving badly" summer book. This is a book to throw in your beach bag and enjoy the messiness of these flawed humans.

The story starts with a body found on the beach and slowly unravels as we get to know the characters and what has brought them to the Island. Everyone has a secret and all will be revealed this summer. 
I listened to the audiobook for this one and it was fantastic. There are alot and I mean ALOT of characters but this story is told so well, it was easy to keep them straight. 

This felt like a Hilderbrand book but more chaotic.

Read this if you love rich people's problems and summer beach front dramas.

It's Desperate Housewives on Fire Island in this sun-soaked, soapy domestic drama that is surprisingly a debut! It's a domestic neighborhood drama up there with the best of them.
A definite page-turner, this atmospheric read is full of scandal, murderous intrigue, island gossip and backstabbing friendships. You always feel like someone is watching you and you never know when your secrets will come to surface. Everyone is suspicious and anyone could be a murderer - the motives are endless. The multiple POVs made it a little hard to begin with but once you got to know the characters you felt completely immersed in their lives and invested in their stories, even if they were all unlikeable and very flawed.
Thanks NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for giving me an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Bad Summer People (Audiobook): 4.25 stars rounded to 4

Summary: Bad Summer People follows a bevy of wealthy, mainly white characters as they summer in the town of Salcombe on Fire Island. On this island secrets, gossip, and drama is what makes their world go round. The main characters include life-long friends Sam and Jason, and their wives Jen and Lauren, Rachel -who has been friends with Sam and Jason since they were kids- and Robert, a tennis pro who accepted a position on the Island for the summer. The story follows their complicated friendships, marriages, and personal lives as they try to escape their real lives for the summer. But, this summer is hit with a huge scandal as someone’s body is found off the side of the board-walk.

Narration: January Lavoy’s narration was wonderful! She had a distinct variation of voices for the many characters that are in this novel (bravo!). The flow was medium-paced with a mysterious edge that hooked me in from the beginning.

My Thoughts: Being friends with people you hate, and choosing to spend your summers together ,every year, is…a choice… that almost everyone on Salcombe, Fire Island seems to make. Salcombe is a small town, so you know that means everyone knows everyone’s business! Everyone has a secret they are trying to keep under-wraps, and they know that someone is always watching/listening. Every character is flawed and in my opinion unlikable (which is why everyone despises each other); from cheating, secretly hating their friends, to over competitiveness, and withholding information…the drama never stops! I really enjoyed how this novel is from the perspective of all of the character’s point of view. We know who saw what, who thinks they weren’t seen, who knows the truth, and what everyone is thinking about the secrets that unfold.

I will say that having so many points of view was a little confusing at first. I couldn’t keep up with who was married to whom and the friendship circles, so I had to take notes to keep it all straight. I also wouldn’t describe this as a thriller…the plot is more focused on the characters than the actual mystery of whose body was found and if someone else would be next.
Overall, if you like a character-driven story with gossipy, drama, and extremely flawed, misbehaved characters, this is for you! I recommend for fans of Gossip Girl and White Lotus (which the author was inspired by),

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

This was such a fun, CAMPY, read! Rich people behaving badly is one of my most beloved sub genres and this is a credit to the movement. The novel is set in a fictionalized version of Saltaire, NY on my beloved Fire Island. While most of us are familiar with Fire Island and Cherry Grover communities, I didn’t realize there were several other small insular beach communities on the same barrier island. The plot has infidelity, fraud, murder, scandal….but mostly it has hilarious low-stakes gossip. Imagine the White Lotus (everyone is insufferable) set at a sleepy upper middle class Long Island beach community. I had the opportunity to listen to an advanced review copy of the audiobook, which is artfully narrated by January LaVoy. Many thanks to NetGalley, Emma Rosenblum and MacMillan Audio for the chance to listen ahead of its publication on 5/23!

Fire Island is in for a surprise this summer. Two couples, Jen and Lauren and Sam and Jason, come each summer. Sam and Jason have been friends since they were small. Jen and Sam already have issues in their marriage. One of them, maybe both, aren’t necessarily content with their lives.

We meet many characters on the way. It almost reminds me of the Wizard of Oz in the sense that the characters just keep popping up as the story progresses. One is nice, one is helpful, one is a gossipmonger etc. There are a lot of tertiary characters and at times I had to stop and try to remember where they fit in the story. I attribute this to it being an audiobook. Although the narrator was fabulous, I may have lost track easier than if reading a physical book.

Everyone is restless in their lives, gossip hovers over the island and a death occurs. There are so many characters it could have been anyone and the guessing continues until the bitter, unscrupulous end. Fun read for the beach or even sitting at home nestled under a blanket. I enjoyed it! Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books.

My expectation going into this one was not to really like any of the characters, get some juicy drama and be entertained and this book absolutely delivered on that front! All the characters had flaws, they all made bad decisions and none of them were happy in the end. Also these people were obsessed with tennis and I can't imagine a community that would collectively care so much but the rich do crazy things! I thought the audio was nice and breezy and worked well for the book! Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for the ALC of the book!

This is a book perfectly described by its title.

There is no a single likable person in this book. The characters have too much money for one home, so they summer at a different one- as one does. Infidelity is literally the main plot mechanism (without it there’s no story), so if you’re someone who prefers to avoid that trope this is not the book for you. If you’re hoping for a murder mystery, this is also not the book. If you really enjoy the RHo series & would love a peek behind the curtain into how they behave when the cameras aren’t on, this could be a good fit!

Thank you so much @macmillan.audio for this audio copy!

This fulfilled it's role as a juicy beach read. Initially I was a little put off by all of the different characters and chapters from their POVs, but in the end I actually really enjoyed it. It was interesting to see the same events from multiple perspectives. Lots of possible suspects and twists at the end, Overall enjoyable. Great narrator for the audiobook.

The book begins with finding a dead body. This is a suspense mystery in a very affluent setting. No twist and turns very straight forward. Great for those who love reading books with rich people problems

Absolutely delicious! I finished listening to this book within a day because, #1. It's soooooooooo good and juicy and #2. January Lavoy, one of my favorite readers is the narrator.
This is a fun beach read about really terrible people. They are vapid, rich and awful and basically even get away with murder. On a small part of Fire Island, sits the community of Slocomb, where the wealthy and privileged summer. And get up to no good. There's cheating and lying and embezzlement and backstabbing and all while the children are at day camp and attended by their nannies. Jason and Lauren Parker are too busy cheating on each other, (he w/ his best friend's wife, and she w/ the tennis pro), to notice each others' infidelities. Or even care. Meanwhile, everyone else has their own quirks & mini disasters. Pretty sure there was only one character who had any redeeming qualities at all. Aside from all this debauchery, the novel is funny and full of the ridiculousness that comes with extreme wealth and privilege. An enjoyable summer read!

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio e-arc.*

3.5 rounded up.

Salcombe, on Fire Island, is the place to spend summer away from the city for all kinds of terrible people with defunct morals. They're all awful, and from time to time I thought someone was maaaaybe a decent human. But no, they're not.

The story has too many characters, and most of them don't matter, other than to point out that EVERYONE has a story to be gossiped about, and they're all failing at life in some way. They also all have kids, though thankfully they're all being raised by nannies.

This was a quick listen, perfect for an amoral brain vacation (other than trying to remember all the characters). January LaVoy's narration was excellent.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.