Rumors of Her Death

By J M Donellan

"Donellan gets readers to root for an unsavory lead in this funny, off-kilter thriller." —Publishers Weekly

In this kaleidoscopic psychological thriller, a man haunted by his girlfriend's suicide dons a revolving door of identities in a futile attempt to outrun his past.

The most dangerous lies are the ones we tell ourselves.

When the man calling himself Archie Leach begins spotting his dead lover at random locations around the city, he must finally stop running and face the truth—which may not be quite as he's remembered it all these years. An American living in Australia, Archie's had so many aliases that when he wakes up handcuffed to a hospital bed, he almost forgets which one he's supposed to use. With his delivery job derailed by a brief and inconvenient death, he's earned the wrath of his underworld boss, landing him an exorbitant repayment plan and the commandeering of his apartment for everything from corpse storage to Tuesday night yoga class.

While recovering from his injuries, Archie is roped into dog-sitting for his new neighbor, Nisha, and a reluctant friendship ensues. She introduces Archie to the strange world of the Orrery, a nine-story mecca of surreal hedonism whose ninth level promises to hold the answers they're both seeking. But Nisha has spun plenty of her own deceptions, as Archie realizes too late. At this rate, they may both end up dead without ever knowing who's been fooling whom.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sourcebooks
• Release date: Sep 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9781728273129

J M Donellan

J.M. DONELLAN is an author, musician, poet, and podcaster. He was almost devoured by a tiger in the jungles of Malaysia, nearly died of a lung collapse in the Nepalese Himalayas, and once fended off a pack of rabid dogs with a guitar in the mountains of India. He has performed at the Sydney Writers' Festival, TEDxBrisbane, the Sydney Opera House, Brisbane Festival, and some very prestigious basements. His previous works include the poetry collection Stendhal Syndrome, the Kirkus Prize-nominated novel Killing Adonis, and the podcast series Six Cold Feet. His children's poetry collection 19 ½ Spells Disguised As Poems has been hailed as 'the worst recipe book of all time.' His most recent novel (besides the one you're looking at now) is The Fabulist. He's won a bunch of awards but refuses to list them all here because no one likes a braggart.