Book Review: THEY NEVER LEARN by Layne Fargo

Title: THEY NEVER LEARN

Author:  Layne Fargo
Read: July 2020

Expected publication: 13 October 2020

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2

Book Description:

Scarlett Clark is an exceptional English professor. But she’s even better at getting away with murder.

Every year, she searches for the worst man at Gorman University and plots his well-deserved demise. Thanks to her meticulous planning, she’s avoided drawing attention to herself—but as she’s preparing for her biggest kill yet, the school starts probing into the growing body count on campus. Determined to keep her enemies close, Scarlett insinuates herself into the investigation and charms the woman in charge, Dr. Mina Pierce. Everything’s going according to her master plan…until she loses control with her latest victim, putting her secret life at risk of exposure.

Meanwhile, Gorman student Carly Schiller is just trying to survive her freshman year. Finally free of her emotionally abusive father, all Carly wants is to focus on her studies and fade into the background. Her new roommate has other ideas. Allison Hadley is cool and confident—everything Carly wishes she could be—and the two girls quickly form an intense friendship. So when Allison is sexually assaulted at a party, Carly becomes obsessed with making the attacker pay...and turning her fantasies about revenge into a reality.

What attracted me to this book:

I am immensely grateful to the bookish community (Jayme, I’m looking at you in particular) for sending this book recommendation my way, because this was exactly the type of book I love: a story about a kick-ass, unscrupulous woman character seeking her own kind of justice – or revenge? Borderline sociopathic, fearless, intelligent and driven, this type of character will steer you through the rough seas of a wonderfully twisted tale, and it delivered all that and more.

My musings:

If you love twisted, kick-ass women characters like Lily out of THE KIND WORTH KILLING, Jane from JANE DOE or Zoey out of THE RED HUNTER, then you will feel immediately drawn to Scarlett Clark, an English professor with a deep dark secret she isn’t afraid to share with her readers. Just make sure you buckle up for the ride she is about to take you on!

I am hoping that it says more about Fargo’s skill as a writer than my own suppressed psychopathic tendencies that I was on Scarlett’s side the whole time and was hoping she would get away with the special brand of justice she is doling out. Does it take a certain lack of moral fibre to root for such an obviously disturbed character? Or is it the exact opposite, that the kind of tale Scarlett tells awakens our inner craving for justice? Justice, or revenge? This would make for a great debate with a reading group! But let’s not get too deep here. THEY NEVER LEARN was a compulsive dark tale from beginning to end and had me totally in its grip. It’s cleverly constructed, rolling out in two seemingly unrelated narratives that seamlessly come together somewhere near the middle of the book, at which point you may sigh, as I did: “Ah, yes, I can see it now!”

I appreciated the way the author fearlessly presents her twisted main character, unapologetic for the rising body count, and quickly gets her readers on her side. Scarlett is the type of successful, intelligent woman many of us may aspire to be, except for – oops – she is also a serial killer. And not ashamed to admit it. But does that make her any less likeable – no, Sir! And, Sir, you may do well to stay on her good side! Was I scared of her? Hell, yes! But if you have ever witnessed the slow grindings of the justice system, especially for vulnerable women, then you may also feel a small satisfactory glow at her own brand of justice.

My only small quibble was that Carly’s story could have been trimmed a little bit in parts to make the otherwise fast paced story flow a bit better. I admit that at times I was much more invested in Scarlett’s story than Carly’s, especially after the cliffhangers in Scarlett’s later chapters that had me reading the whole book in one massive sitting. Will Scarlett get away with her latest murder? Did I want her to – yes, yes, yes I did! Don’t judge me too harshly though, because once in Scarlett’s world, you may feel exactly the same.

Summary:

All in all, THEY NEVER LEARN was the type of compulsive, twisted, entertaining tale that doesn’t come around very often. Fast paced and led by a strong female lead, it gripped me after the first page and didn’t let up until I had finished it. With its atmospheric boarding college setting and characters that all elicited a strong emotional response, I was totally swept away on one heck of a journey.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Gallery / Scout Press for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.