Clawing her way back after her ex-husband completely wiped out their kids’ bank accounts, Pam is desperate for a win.

Her older sister Deb is barely hanging on financially while caring for her husband during his cancer treatments. And youngest sister Harper? She’s not raising kids or juggling a marriage—but she is in serious trouble after borrowing money from the worst possible person. Now she’s being threatened to pay up… or have her secrets exposed.

Enter: The Wheel—a women-backed “social” group that Pam claims is the answer to all their problems. With thousands suddenly in her account, Pam brings in Deb. And eventually, a very hesitant Harper.

But what exactly is The Wheel? Because something about this group just doesn’t sit right. And when things start unraveling, it becomes clear—some members will do whatever it takes to keep their secrets buried and the cash flowing.

This backstabbing, cultish thriller was my first Megan Abbott read—but it definitely won’t be my last! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Big thanks to NetGalley, Megan Abbott, and Penguin Group Putnam for the opportunity to read this suspenseful and intense novel in exchange for an honest review!

El Dorado Drive represents the street where a woman named Pam now lives, but also the downfall of Pam and her sisters Debra and Harper. The middle aged sisters grew up with money in Grosse Point, Michigan but the slow down of the automotive industry caused their father to lose his job and the sisters to lose their opportunities for a better life. The book starts with Pam having a graduation party for her son Patrick, and sister Harper decides to move in with Pam. This is a slow burn thriller that I found it hard to get into. The opening scene with the graduation party seemed to go forever, although it was meant to give us a background of the sisters. All of the sisters are broke: Debra has a husband battling cancer resulting in huge medical bills, Pam has two children to put through college and Harper owes someone a lot of money.

Pam tells Harper about a pyramid scheme type thing called "the Wheel" which is later called the group. It costs $5,000 to join and the idea is that each woman who joins gets their name on a wheel and eventually each will get the spoils from the meeting or party. This scheme doesn't really make sense and I couldn't figure out how Pam who won the jackpot of $25,000 one time, is able to sponsor other woman by paying their buy in fee, buy various luxury items and still have piles of cash left. There is a murder later in the story and the author does a good job at creating a trail of clues for the reader to try and figure out the mystery. Not my favorite from this author and I didn't like the sister characters or think the cult like scheme was all that interesting. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC for review.

It was okay, I appreciated the recurring theme of the contrast between aspiration and reality--a gap that reveals a seediness beneath the surface of so many things, including Pam's street, Demon Doug, the Wheel Club, and the central crime. Yet I left the story wanting something. Maybe to feel something for the characters, especially the sisters? I felt like I was at a remove throughout. Thankfully, it was a quick read and I was motivated to keep going because I wanted to know whodunnit.

An outstanding exploration of the pressures brought on to a community of women by changing financial circumstances and how this leads to a murder.

The Bishop family used to be well off. Then the Detroit motor industry collapsed, the money ran out, the parents died, and now Debra, Harper, and Pam are left: “They never thought about money until it was gone and then it was all any of them thought about.”

The three sisters have each been forced to dig their financial hole even deeper, to the extent that they can never see a way out from under what they owe. Of all of them, Pam has fallen the hardest having married a go-getting businessman and lived the high life before they divorced and he stopped paying alimony and started raiding their kids’ college funds. But Pam is also the extroverted charismatic sister and she thinks she’s found a solution. Only Pam ends up dead.

Told from Harper’s perspective, the author brilliantly captures the grind of constantly worrying about money and what it represents. It’s not just the Bishops, the whole region has been hit and it’s the women who take it the hardest, particularly those used to a life of privilege. It’s easy to see why the prospect of easy money is so appealing and it’s also easy to see why, in their desperation, nobody wants to ask too many questions.

The characters of the three sisters are beautifully delineated and the plot is driven from there. Harper’s wistful memories of their childhood give the context and contrast to their current desperate straits and helps explain why money is never just money, but represents security, independence, and freedom.

Though this is billed as a crime novel, the crime, Pam’s murder, is really just a hook to hang the atmospheric world building on. The author has always had an exceptional eye for the emotional and social lives of groups of women and this is no exception.

Thanks to Putnam and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

Harper and her sisters Debra and Pam, desperate to settle their debts and regain the social status they grew up with, find the perfect solution when Pam is invited into a secretive club that promises to help its members make money without selling Tupperware or Mary Kay. For the small price of $5,000, you can join the group and have your money returned to you fivefold. Of course, nothing like this is ever quite as simple as it seems.

The author’s flowery prose created a palpable ambiance - you could feel the heat of the summer, the stress of a confrontation - but it also concealed a weak plot device: “the Club” and its silly chants and obvious pyramid-scheme vibes.

The three sisters are insufferable, unsympathetic characters, as are all the other women in “the Club.” These women seem to genuinely believe that “the Club” could be a legitimate, legal, morally sound vehicle for them to make the money they seem to think they somehow deserve. I can see how this “get rich quick” scheme would appeal to a bunch of vulnerable, desperate women, but there was also no foil to make them question anything. Even the husbands are on board with the Club, although they don’t know all the details. Pam’s teenage daughter Vivian was the only one asking questions, and since nobody took her seriously to begin with, there was no one really doubting what the group was doing. Although I enjoyed the book, I just found it too hard to believe that everybody in the sisters’ orbit sees nothing wrong with this very obvious scheme.

Three sisters try to reclaim their former wealth (and solve their problems) by participating in a money wheel. This was juicy and slower paced, but very atmospheric. I felt like I was in the neighborhood with the ladies. Abbott’s writing rarely disappoints - she just has a way with words. Give me all the pyramid scheme books.

Wow, this was next level MLM. Very twisted and kept me engaged throughout. I did not see the ending coming.

Money is the root of all evil, and if it sounds too good to be true (especially free money!) it probably has a catch and as soon as I got to the section with Pam explaining this awesome club for women in need of empowerment I started yelling at Harper to get out because it so obviously a pyramid scheme! Though I can see how the sisters got sucked in, and the other women because it would be hard to have gone from rich and no money worries, to losing everything, including an ex-husband who decided to drain his kids trust funds. Talk about awful! Though even that has more to it. It is all tied to money though, the lack of it, the plans to get it back and how some people will do anything for it, including the pyramid scheme and possible murder. So, yeah while I was getting invested in the twists and turns on the way to the sisters regaining their fortunes, I could feel the club winding tighter and tighter, knowing it would fall eventually and then a whole lot of people would be hurting.

I did enjoy the story and I did have to keep reading because I had to find out what happened. The ending was a bit confusing, especially with so many people being blamed and it was kind of sad what really happened with Pam. I will definitely say, money, especially if it is sketchy how you got it, will be at the root and desperate people will do anything for cold hard cash!

Good but not great. I liked the story concept, but I didn’t always enjoy how it seemed to drag out. I think it could have been more suspenseful for sure. The characters were pretty interesting and seemed to be relatable for most people. I can easily see how people could get wrapped up in this “pyramid scheme” when their various needs were being played upon. I recommend if you like Megan Abbott but could also take it or leave it.

This was very well-written but I struggled to connect to it. I think it’s more of a personal lived experience disconnect than the book.

I really enjoyed El Dorado Drive, just like I’ve enjoyed Megan Abbott’s other books. She has such a unique way of telling unsettling stories that slowly pull you in. This one stood out to me because it centers around an MLM, which is something I’ve always been fascinated by.

It’s wild how people can get pulled into these types of groups without realizing they’re actually pyramid schemes. Abbott does a great job showing how easy it is to fall for the promise of something better, especially when people are just trying to help themselves or support their families. It’s sad to see how these companies take advantage of people who are struggling, and how everything can fall apart when the money stops coming in.

This book really makes you think about the emotional and personal toll it takes. These aren’t just characters chasing success, they’re people with families, dreams, and fears. And when things go wrong, it affects everyone around them. It’s haunting, real, and stuck with me long after I finished it. Another gripping read from Megan Abbott.

I received a free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. But also I adore Megan Abbott, so I ended up buying a physical copy from Bookshop and waiting for that to arrive before diving in (there are some authors - for me it’s apparently Abbott and Maureen Johnson - whose books I feel like I can’t read until I have the physical copy in my hands. I want the FINISHED-finished version I guess!).

You Will Know Me is probably still my favorite, but this is a close second. Our narrator is Harper, the youngest sister screw-up of a trio of sisters. She and her sisters Pam and Deb had an idyllic childhood until their father lost his job (it’s Detroit, the car boom burst…you do the math). The family never really recovered from that fall from grace, and although Pam married well and lived the high life for a little while, when we meet the sisters they’re all in various forms of disarray. Harper ran away to escape a bad relationship and was unceremoniously kicked out of her apartment (and is somehow shocked the landlord would do this, in spite of the fact that she disappeared for 10 weeks and presumably stopped paying rent). Pam is divorced and living in a crappy rental house and fighting with her ex-husband over their children’s trust/college funds. And Debra’s husband was just diagnosed with cancer, which is famously something that has zero effect on one’s bank accounts. They’re all struggling - Pam’s deadbeat ex has drained the kids’ college funds. Harper is working part time at the horse stables, and Deb is going broke trying to pay for Perry’s treatments.

Enter The Wheel. The older sisters got involved while Harper was escaping to horse camp (yes, really). It’s basically a pyramid scheme - when you join, you pay 5 grand. It’s a one-time thing, and then eventually you get to “run the wheel” and YOU get 25 grand back (from 5 new members). The goal of course is to recruit new people - it’s never specified quite *how* the whole scheme works, but it seems like they have a party once 5 new members have been recruited so the gal of the moment gets her 25 grand. It’s also not clear how they decide whose “turn” it is. At first it seemed like it was when you had personally recruited 5 new people? But Harper does eventually get her turn and we only ever see her bring in one new person. You can run the wheel multiple times, but to really clean up, the goal is to start NEW groups and branch off the original…pyramid. It’s all presented to others under the guise of a women-fellowship-”bookclub” esque situation. Because here’s the thing - women of this age are kind of invisible. Everyone assumes if they’re gathering together, they’re just having a book club (aka an excuse to drink a bunch of wine). It never occurs to most of the men in their lives that they might be doing something super sketchy. They can hide it all in plain sight.

Of course things go off the rails - members start flaunting their money in stupidly obvious ways. There’s a difference between trying to keep up with the Joneses and driving around in a gold Lexus (Pam). The novel actually opens with a scene of Pam and Harper burying Pam’s cookie jar full of winnings in the backyard. Pam has a terrible feeling about the money and keeps repeating “all I want is to be innocent again.” Then we flash back a few months to the night of her son Patrick’s graduation party, pre-Wheel.

I kind of wish we had followed all 3 sisters instead of just Harper. They’re all Going Through It in different ways, and given how things unravel, I feel like sticking with Harper was too limiting. Also Harper’s kind of a frustrating character - she’s super passive and just kind of lets things happen to her. If we had to be tied to one particular character, by the end I wished it had been Deb instead!

I've tried to read Megan Abbott's novels in the past because their premises sound right up my alley, but they're a bit of a let down for me every time. Unfortunately her latest is no exception - a bit bland.

I really wanted to like this book, since I've liked everything else I've read by Megan Abbot. Unfortunately, I only made it about 20% into El Dorado Drive before I decided to DNF. The pacing seemed a bit off. I think Abbot generally builds suspense well, but this was a bit slow. I do think she did a good job of portraying their personalities and fleshing them out. Her depiction of the family dynamics was excellent. But, the story overall didn't grab me (I don't think domestic/suburban drama is my thing) and despite her character work, I wasn't interested enough or invested enough in any character to keep reading to find out what happens.

I am a huge Megan Abbott fan, and El Dorado Drive did not disappoint. This book is FUN! I know it's a thriller with dark themes, but also welcome to the world of women empowering themselves by starting their own little Ponzi scheme until they completely lose control of themselves. Is there greed in this book? Yes! But there is also an underlying theme of women doing what they have to so they can make ends meet. Always expected to find a way, the women in El Dorado Drive literally create their own path to success. And then, as per usual, when we fly too close to the sun, we get burned. And what a ride we go on in this adventurous story! I was captivated throughout.

Also woven into this book is a theme of sisterhood and the dynamics of a 3-sister family. Do we really ever get away from the roles we had when we were growing up as siblings even when we are independent?

I highly recommend this slow-burn that you really won't want to put down until it's over.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #PutnamBooks for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Please send me all the Megan Abbott books all the time!!

I wanted to like this book, I really did, but I couldn't get past page 30. I felt that the story was way too slow. There is nothing inherently wrong with the writing or anything like that; I just couldn't get into it. I want to thank the author and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book as an advanced review copy. I have read other books by this author and liked them, but this particular one was just not for me.

Harper is keeping secrets from everyone. She owes a ton of money! So, when her sister suggests she join a club that could help her make money, Harper was a bit hesitant at first. But then she starts making some much needed money and her concerns get a tad bit easier. Then her sister gets killed and their little club might be on the cops radar.

Now, I am not going to lie. Being a science person and not a finance person, I truly got a bit lost when the explanation of the club or “the wheel” took place. It’s a pyramid scheme on the next level!! Once I got through that section of the book, the story took off.

I really liked Harper. She is a bit of a hot mess. And don’t get me started on her sisters! No one is as they seem! And believe me, their anxiety about money is very telling!

I enjoyed this tale of money scheming and greed! Oh…the secrets!!

Need a story of desperation…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel for a honest review.

This was a story that set up slowly, and it took me awhile to catch on to what was actually going on.

Three sisters- Debra, Harper, and Pam- all have money woes, even after growing up in Grosse Pointe in a a privileged home. It’s gotten to a hard choice, and Harper has moved in with Pam and her kids. Pam needs help after going through a nasty divorce, and Debra and her husband are covered in medical bills after his cancer diagnosis.

Somehow they devised a way to “help” themselves, a pyramid scheme they call the Wheel. The women meet twice a month and bring cash to add to the pool. The members work their way up to win and their job is to recruit more women so there’s more cash to win. What an idea! That is, until someone dies.

The mystery develops very slowly and left me hanging on to reach the end. It’s a brilliant saga and the author is extremely clever in how she rolls to conclusion.

Four stars for me!

I received a copy of the digital ARC via the publisher and NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

This was a really exciting book! The sisters were all different and their dynamic was fascinating, and the Wheel was really interesting. I didn't see the twists and turns coming, and was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Thank you NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for this ARC!

I think this author should write shows and movies instead of books. I like her stories and ideas but I don't always like it as much on paper. Maybe it's too long, maybe I don't like the prose. But there's always something good there.