“A brash, unapologetic, and often funny novel with a delightful nasty streak. I enjoyed the hell out of this one.”—Ronald Malfi, bestselling author of Small Town HorrorDisturbed pre-med student Keely Rexroth is unable to take ‘no’ for an answer when she is denied entry into a prestigious research program. As her ambition curdles into dark mania, she embarks on her own curriculum of twisted experimentation, fighting to keep her secrets from a campus priest who is too perceptive for his own good. If she can’t get what she deserves on her own merit, she’ll eliminate her competition. This horror-thriller is a chilling mix of dark academia, psychological terror, gallows humor, and revenge fantasy that is perfect for fans of Gone Girl, Maeve Fly, Darkly Dreaming Dexter, and You. "Viggy Parr Hampton’s Much Too Vulgar crackles with deftly crafted motives, intensely high stakes, and characters as sharply written as the scalpels they wield. Add to this a dose of black humor on par with Brett Easton Ellis and you’ve got yourself a horror novel you will not want to miss.” —Christa Carmen, Bram Stoker Award-winning and Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author of The Daughters of Block Island “Much Too Vulgar is a delightfully fun roller-coaster ride through a depraved mind. Never before have I rooted so hard for the villain to come out on top! Viggy Parr Hampton has such an incredible way of painting a vivid world filled with characters you love to hate and hate to love. This was a fast-paced page turner that I couldn't put down! It crawled itself into my mind with each new word I read and it sits there still, well after I've finished. I can't recommend this book enough! It's so good!”—Angel Van Atta, author of In The Tall Trees “Move over Dexter. Meet Keely. Part thriller, part savage satirical takedown of pre-med academia, Much Too Vulgar is rich with comedic terror. Viggy writes with a razor-sharp wit that would leave Carl Hiaasen’s jaw on the floor. I haven’t had this much fun following a character since Jeff Lindsay’s Darkly Dreaming Dexter. This is going to be the year’s can’t miss hit.” —Gage Greenwood, author of Bunker Dogs

Luster meets The Idiot in this riveting debut novel about a volatile friendship between two outsiders who escape their bleak childhoods and enter the glamorous early '90s art world in New York City, where only one of them can make it. Ruth, an only child of recent immigrants to New England, lives in an emotionally cold home and attends the local Catholic girl’s school on a scholarship. Maria, a beautiful orphan whose Panamanian mother dies by suicide and is taken care of by an ill, unloving aunt, is one of the only other students attending the school on a scholarship. Ruth is drawn forcefully into Maria’s orbit, and they fall into an easy, yet intense, friendship. Her devotion to her charming and bright new friend opens up her previously sheltered world. While Maria, charismatic and aware of her ability to influence others, eases into her full self, embracing her sexuality and her desire to be an artist, Ruth is mostly content to follow her around: to college and then into the early-nineties art world of New York City. There, ambition and competition threaten to rupture their friendship, while strong and unspoken forces pull them together over the years. Whereas Maria finds early success in New York City as an artist, Ruth stumbles along the fringes of the art world, pulled toward a quieter life of work and marriage. As their lives converge and diverge, they meet in one final and fateful confrontation. Ruth and Maria's decades-long friendship interrogates the nature of intimacy, desire, class and time. What does it mean to be an artist and to be true to oneself? What does it mean to give up on an obsession? Marking the arrival of a sensational new literary talent, Lonely Crowds challenges us to reckon honestly with our own ambitions and the lives we hope to lead.

From a dazzling new talent, a sensual and spellbinding novel about one summer that shatters the balance between three best friends, forcing them to confront the line between friendship and desireFifteen-year-old Mina’s whole world is her two best friends, but after an unexpected kiss, the established dynamics of their trio quickly unravel. Everything that was once shared openly, from clothes to secrets, now feels impossibly fragile. Loyalties shift and tensions simmer across the long days of this pivotal summer, where the girls have nowhere new to go and everything new to feel.Looking back, an adult Mina traces the undercurrents of longing that shaped her first experience of desire. The rituals of girlhood—gossip, selfies, sleepovers, and videogames—become threads in a delicate, volatile web of intimacy, in which everything feels achingly fleeting and permanently etched. Loving one person, Mina learns, can change the way we love everyone else—including ourselves. Bold, vulnerable, and sharply observant, Girl’s Girl is a sundrenched and dewy snapshot of modern girl culture set in the blaze of one suburban Midwest summer.