The Award — Matthew Pearl

The author of Save Our Souls and The Dante Club makes his eagerly awaited return to fiction with this irreverent and propulsive novel about a young writer trying to make his way through a cutthroat literary scene that turns deadly.

David Trent is an aspiring novelist in Cambridge, Massachusetts, trying to navigate his ambitions in a place that has writers around every corner.

He lives in an apartment above a Very Famous Author named Silas Hale who, beneath his celebrated image, is a bombastic, vindictive monster who refuses to allow his new neighbor even to make eye contact with him.

 Until young David wins a prestigious award for his new book.

 Suddenly Silas is interested -- if intensely spiteful.

 But soon, the administrator of the award comes to David with an alarming update, forcing the writer into a desperate set of choices.

 Then, fate intervenes -- with shocking consequences. . . .

 With the wit and psychological wisdom of The Plot and The Winner, The Award is a timely, razor-sharp, and unputdownable novel about writing groups, publishing, ambition, human foibles, and the dangerous things we will do to get ahead.