The Horror

Some months ago, in a foul and nidorous vault, seated at a stone table near a pool in which some strange writhing thing turned slowly in the quag, a murder of marketers made a blood pact. They vowed to keep the plot of The Quick, Lauren Owen's stunning debut novel, from the book-browsing public for as long as possible. As with The Crying Game and Haydn's "Symphony No. 94 in G Major," a surprise lurks within. But unlike those works, the surprise in The Quick changes entirely the sort of story it ...