Megan Abbott does it again with another suspenseful Thriller of a novel. When Harper moves in with her sister Pam she is surprised to find she is doing so well . She finds out how when she is asked to join a club called The Wheel. I loved the dynamics of the sisters and the the thrill of hpe everything would turn out. This is a real page turner

Woman helping woman with a chance to make your financial problems go away. The pacing was extremely slow so I almost gave up reading. The bishop sisters had so much family trauma growing up. I liked all the drama between the sisters. Everyone couldn’t wait for their turn to run the wheel. Pam had a feeling something bad was going to happen.

This was good just not action packed or twists that shocked me. I had to finish to see how it ended. I preferred her other books more.

This novel reminds me, again, why Megan Abbott is one of my favorite contemporary suspense writers. The start of this book was slow, intentionally so, really focusing on this one often dysfunctional family, and their deep histories and resentments and love. It churns along, tackling themes about money and power and desperation in a Michigan once prosperous but hit hard by layoffs and industry shifts in the early 2000s. And then comes the revelation as the dread builds and the pace quickens and the opening pages come back into view: this is leading somewhere tragic. And I breezed through the last thirty percent of the novel in pursuit of an ending that was both surprising and inevitable.

Desperate housewives meets pyramid schemes - this would make a fantastic tv series! Loved the twists towards the end and thoroughly enjoyed this one.

I’ve been a Meg Abbott fan for a long time and this one lived up to her unique qualities of suspense that I love. Her suspense just always feels DARKER to me, and gets at the root of human motivation and desire.

I loved the pyramid scheme component of this and the way it drove home the deeper themes of sisterhood and desire. Unsettling in the best ways!

When Harper Bishop hits rock bottom and moves in with her sister, she gets roped into a financial club for women with her sisters, a club that sounds suspiciously like a pyramid scheme...

I don't take ARCs very often any more but how often does a Megan Abbott ARC fall into your lap?

Megan Abbott has written a variety of books but the ones about the secrets women share are easily the best. Cheerleaders, gymnasts, and now three sisters remembering the upper class life they had as teens and the yearning to get back there.

Harper, the black sheep of the three Bishop girls, carries some baggage with her and can't wait to get back on her feet. Pam is trying to finally be rid of her soon to be ex-husband and Debra's in debt up to her neck because of her husband's medical bills. While they're all smart women, they're also desperate to climb out of the financial holes they've found themselves in and that's why the pyramid scheme they get roped into seemed so promising.

When something seems too good to be true, it probably is. The big event is foreshadowed in the frantic first chapter and the second half of the book is the consequences. Master that she is, Megan had me guessing who the killer was a few different times. I did not see the ending coming and it hit me like a hammer to the head.

I will never get tired of Megan Abbott and her brand of girlnoir. Four out of five stars.

It’s a rare thing for a novel to hold in its heart both a captivating mystery, all greed and noir and sleaze and a thorough examination of the human animal, namely how we grieve and how we love. Abbott has always done both—familial ties and the lengths we can stretch them until the break make frequent appearances in her work—but El Dorado drive finds the author at her best.

Few novelists today understand the dark violence that nestles in the hearts of women the Megan Abbott does. Even fewer delve into those dark hearts with such empathy. Abbott delivers unflinchingly unlikeable women and makes us love them. We become complicit in their crimes. Worse still, we want to see our sharp and steely heroines get away with them. The Bishop sisters in El Dorado Drive, like the Durant sisters in “The Turnout”, are sharp, flawed, fraught, and captivating. The dynamic of three sisters, set against the backdrop of Detroit in the throes of economic collapse, propels the novel forward as much as the twists and turns of the plot which are many, layered, shocking, but never tawdry.

I’ve never managed to read an Abbott novel in less than a day and I fully intended to spread this one out over at least a few days, but I devoured it in the space of hours. Quite simply, like the women in this novel, I needed to know the secrets and once I got a taste, I was hungry for more. Dear reader, I gorged myself.

Very engaging and interesting read. Very well developed and ambitious. Will be recommending to library collection and patrons.

Set around 2008 from my best guess (it didn’t really specify but it is an uncorrected proof) this story centers around the 3 Bishop sisters. This is told from the middle sister Harper’s point of view. Harper is broke, giving riding lessons to the rich people in town, the story is set in Detroit so this was the time when the auto companies were moving out of the area and a lot of people that had been wealthy all their lives are now struggling to find gainful employment. Harper is single but owes a very large debt, her older sister Debra is married and her husband has cancer, they are struggling with medical debt and then Harper’s younger sister Pam is beloved by most everyone except her teenage daughter Vivian and her ex husband Doug. Their divorce got ugly and the teenage children are out in the middle. Pam and Debra have recently joined a women’s “investment” group that is basically a pyramid scheme. Unfortunately this didn’t work for me, I love the idea of a thriller with this set up but the execution did not work for me. I felt like this was a slog to get through. I didn’t like anyone not even in a love to hate way. For me there wasn’t enough explanation of how the wheel worked where it really made sense, the amount of money along with the time and effort it took the women to get there just didn’t feel like it was believable. Then someone gets murdered and everything just gets silly from there. I think I just don’t mesh well with this author. Her books always sound great but then don’t work for me. I think this will be a very popular book though and will definitely work for a lot of people. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review this book.

Legit amazing. Had me on the edge of my seat! Pyramid scheme with middle age women and I kept thinking, could I end up in something like this?!! Read this as soon as you can. It’ll be a great summer read for sure.

I won’t say it was bad but it wasn’t great either. I felt like the story moved slower than necessary with not enough drama, action and twists to grab me. Wanting to know how it ended is what kept me turning the pages, I just didn’t want to give up on her book. The end was satisfying enough and I was rewarded with a little twist I wasn’t expecting.

I recently finished El Dorado Drive by Megan Abbott, and it was quite the ride! I absolutely loved Abbott’s earlier book, Give Me Your Hand, so I was excited to dive into this one.

The story follows three sisters—each grappling with their own personal challenges—who get drawn into a mysterious women's group that essentially turns into something resembling a pyramid scheme. One of its members is murdered. I have to admit, some of the antics of this group were a little over the top for me, but that’s part of what made the book so intriguing.

At first, the pacing felt a bit slow, but once the story picked up, I was hooked. The last third of the book had me on the edge of my seat. I loved how Abbott’s signature writing style—full of suspense and unexpected twists—shines through, keeping you guessing. I honestly had no idea who the real culprit was until the very end.

I’d definitely recommend El Dorado Drive to anyone who enjoys a dark, twisty mystery with a psychological edge. And a huge thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

This was such a fun read. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Summary: Harper, Debra, and Pam are sisters who live wildly different lives. One sister is in debt over her husband's cancer treatment. One sister is in a bitter dispute over child support and trust funds, and Harper overextended herself in the name of love. After running off for the summer, she comes back to find her sisters doing much better financially. They want her to join in the club, "The Wheel." What is the Wheel? It's a secret until you pay your way in, then eventually it will pay off. Soon all three sisters are playing a never ending game and the consequences may be deadly.

Review: I really liked "Dare Me" by Abbott as well as the short-lived TV series. I really wanted to like this one more than I did. I think this book absolutely had the potential to be better, but suffered from too much family drama bogging down the story. Abbott does focus a lot on relationships, while I would have appreciated a bit more action as well as more likable characters. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't guess "whodunnit" and fell for the red herrings placed by Abbott.

Rating: 3 stars

A big thank you to NetGalley and PenguinGroup Putnam for providing this ARC for review.

I am pretty much burnt out on the over the top domestic thriller genre, but Megan Abbott's books always sound so intriguing and they go out very often in my local library, so I decided to give this one a chance. With all due respect to our patrons, I did not find this one to be for me or to be an enjoyable read. I think I have read too many of these, such that the formula they follow no longer engages me. I found there to be too many unlikeable characters who were very similar and who did not engender any empathy. Without a connection to the characters. I struggled from the early pages of the book and ultimately wasn't able to finish. It just wasn't for me...

I enjoyed this story about the three Bishop sisters and how money impacted them. This was a mix of family drama and mystery and I was here for it. I enjoyed how much character development there was and liked the slow burn of the book. There was a MLM scheme and things take a turn with some twists at the end that were good. I would read another book by the author for sure.

Harper, having some financial difficulties, has moved in with her sister Pam, who after going through a contentious and costly divorce, seems to be doing well now. Pam, explaining her new found fortune, invites Harper to join her woman’s group, “The Wheel”, where twice a month the woman meet and initiation fees from new members are pooled together, then disbursed to another member. But Harper soon discovers there are dangers lurking within the club. El Dorado Drive has an interesting premise, and the prologue certainly hooks you, hinting at a suspenseful thriller. Unfortunately, that promising start fizzles under a too-lengthy discourse on the sisters’ financial and marital woes, as well as the introduction of numerous characters, none of which have any redeeming qualities. It’s not until the last quarter of the book does the tempo and action pick up, and from that point on does the story finally deliver the bang you were hoping for, and that last quarter really saves the book. While I understand the need to set the scene, this one just takes too long to get there, but if you can stay with it, the story really does flourish at the end. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I can always count on Abbott for something amazing. This book was a bit slow at the beginning, but the last 100 pages sped past. It was like a slow burn mystery that suddenly caught on fire and I was so here for it. If you’re a fan of Abbott, you won’t be disappointed, and if this is your first book by her, you’re in for a treat. Thank you NetGalley for the arc.

This was a tense and wild ride. Truly a suspenseful book that had me on the edge of my seat - especially for the second half of the book!

Debra, Harper, and Pam grew up in the heyday of the auto industry in Michigan, living lavishly in an affluent suburb until mass layoffs impacted their family. Fast forward to nearly two decades later and each of the Bishop sisters has their own set of money problems. Debra’s husband’s cancer treatments are racking up massive amounts of medical debt; Pam’s acrimonious divorce left her penniless and scrounging to cover the costs of supporting her teenage kids through high school and college alone; and Harper hit rock bottom after a relationship went awry, leaving her cash-strapped, working a low wage job, and living with her sister. That is when the sisters find out about the Wheel, a sisterhood of middle-aged women who lift each other up - and a way to make lots of money quickly. What started out as a way out of their money problems quickly turns into their worst nightmare.

It was a bit slow for about the first part of the book, while they build out the suburban world and characters, but then it quickly picks up. It was fairly interesting read, especially since it wasn’t your average suspenseful mystery. Instead, it mixes in family drama while also being a deep character study on the three sisters, especially focused on Harper. I also loved how realistic the rotating cast of characters felt, all tied by their desperation and turmoil caused by financial burdens. I felt really satisfied by the end twist and the surprise bonus twist. I can’t wait to read more by this author!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC!

Classic Meg Abbot—a story centering women and their relationships with each other. This time it’s the Bishop sisters, who struggle with money and relationships. They see a bit of reprieve with a club called “the wheel,” but obviously getting out of their debt won’t be that easy. My favorite thing about Abbott is the voice she uses for her characters, and how the thriller is secondary to the women’s’ relationships.