The Wonder Test, Michelle Richmond
The Wonder Test, Michelle Richmond
2 Rating(s)
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
Club: $9.97

The Wonder Test
A Novel

Author: Michelle Richmond

Narrator: Thérèse Plummer

Unabridged: 11 hr 40 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/06/2021

Synopsis

Escaping New York City and the espionage case that made her question everything, recently widowed FBI Agent Lina Connerly returns home to sell the house she has inherited in Greenfield, California. With her teenage son Rory, Lina hopes to reassemble her life, reevaluate her career, and find a clear way forward.Adrift and battling insomnia, she discovers that her father’s sleepy hometown has been transformed into a Silicon Valley suburb on steroids, obsessed with an annual exam called the Wonder Test.When students at her son’s high school go missing, reappearing under mysterious circumstances on abandoned beaches, Lina must summon her strength and her investigative instincts, pushing her own ethical boundaries to the limits in order to solve the crimes. Meanwhile, an old espionage case called Red Vine keeps calling her back into the fold. While Lina struggles to balance her new role as a single mother and the complex counterintelligence puzzles she is so adept at solving, Greenfield’s shadowy dangers creep closer to her own home.The Wonder Test is a searing view of a culture that puts the well-being of children at risk for advancement and prestige, and a captivating story of the lengths a mother will go for her son.

About Michelle Richmond

Michelle Richmond is the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels and story collections, including The Marriage Pact, Golden State, The Year of Fog, and Hum. She received the Truman Capote Prize for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer of the Short Story. Her books have been published in thirty languages. She lives with her husband and son in Northern California.

About Thérèse Plummer

Thérèse Plummer is an actor, award-winning voice-over artist, and counselor. She has won eighteen AudioFile Earphones Awards and has been a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. She has appeared in a variety of television and film roles. As a counselor for adolescents, she spent five years using drama therapy techniques in individual and group settings.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Farrah on June 17, 2021

I can't believe it took me almost FIVE DAYS to read this book! It's in no way a reflection of my enjoyment of it. I've been having my kitchen renovated and it's just one room in my house so, like WHY did it feel like my whole world was off kilter?? 😅 But the kitchen's done and it looks great and I've......more

Goodreads review by Jayme on May 23, 2021

Nicole has just finished sharing “sandwiches” with a friend on a deserted beach when she sees “it” approaching. A shape, moving like an injured animal, ashen white and glowing. A student, who had disappeared weeks ago, now shaved bald, and traumatized.... Widowed FBI agent, Lina Connerly and her teen......more

Goodreads review by James on October 25, 2021

Years ago, I read and enjoyed The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond. I noticed the author's new release, The Wonder Test, on NetGalley this month and requested it. I'm not exactly sure why I haven't gone back to read more of her books, but after this one, I will push myself to do it. In this releas......more

Goodreads review by Lisa on August 19, 2021

I love this author’s storytelling and writing style. I love this author’s characters. It’s easy to care about them, one way or the other. I enjoyed reading about all sorts of places I know in the San Francisco Bay Area! Many of them were real and even the made up ones did a good job of describing th......more

Goodreads review by Dana on June 27, 2021

This was my first book by this author and won't be my last. I really enjoyed The Wonder Test! First off, I loved the fact each chapter started with a question from "The Wonder Test" ... the questions really got me thinking. This would be such a great book club read! The story is told from our main ch......more

Quotes

“Gripping, frightening, swift as a bullet. The last hundred pages could give you whiplash.” Dean Koontz, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“Captures the darker aspects of being the extremely privileged cyber capital of the world.” Alice LaPlante, New York Times bestselling author

“A moving exploration of motherhood and money, danger and deception, privilege and pretense.” Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times bestselling author

“Fast-paced and smart.” Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times bestselling author

“Richmond crafts a satisfying ending…[with] gifted storytelling and Lina’s compelling self-discovery.” Booklist (starred review)

“[A] sharply written, subtly satirical thriller.” Publishers Weekly

“Narrator Therese Plummer leads listeners through a twisted thriller… Plummer portrays Lina as a combination of serious FBI agent and concerned mother. Her well-performed narration keeps the listener engaged from the beginning to the truly surprising conclusion.” AudioFile

“The overlay of international spy craft on suburban California…is surprisingly effective. Richmond also has fun by including a question from the Wonder Test at the beginning of each chapter, emphasizing the ridiculously competitive world of affluent high schools.” Kirkus Reviews

“A two-in-one winner: a gripping thriller set in a Stepford-esque California suburb and a story of surviving loss and building family bonds. With a realistic protagonist, well-described setting, and an uber-creepy villain.” Library Journal

“The plot twists kept me riveted until the small hours of the morning.” Vendela Vida, author of We Run the Tides

Awards

  • Amazon Best Book of the Month
  • Amazon Editors' Pick
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