Stone Cold Fox by Rachel Koller Croft ~ Book Review with Excerpt

 

A perfectly wicked debut thriller about an ambitious woman who, after a lifetime of conning alongside her mother, wants to leave her dark past behind and marry the heir to one of the country's wealthiest families.

Like any enterprising woman, Bea knows what she’s worth and is determined to get all she deserves—it just so happens that what she deserves is to marry rich. Filthy rich. After years of forced instruction by her mother in the art of swindling men, a now-solo Bea wants nothing more than to close and lock the door on their sordid partnership so she can disappear safely into old-money domesticity, sealing the final phase of her escape.

When Bea chooses her ultimate target in the fully-loaded, thoroughly dull and blue-blooded Collin Case, she’s ready to deploy all of her tricks one last time. The challenge isn’t getting the ring, but rather the approval of Collin’s family and everyone else in their 1 percent tax bracket, particularly his childhood best friend, Gale Wallace-Leicester. Going toe-to-toe with Gale isn’t a threat to an expert like Bea, but what begins as an amusing cat-and-mouse game quickly develops into a dangerous pursuit of the grisly truth. Finding herself at a literal life-and-death crossroads, with everything on the line, Bea must finally decide who she really wants to be. Like mother, like daughter?

By the time I happened upon Collin Case, I had already dated more than my fair share of New York “somebodies” with middling personalities and big-enough bank accounts. They were relatively easy to find when you looked like me. I spent hundreds of my hard-earned dollars on fresh highlights every four to six weeks. I mastered an authentic feminine titter for jokes that weren’t remotely amusing as I grazed nearly non-existent biceps with my perfectly manicured hands, an almond shape on each nail. And I regularly choked down liquid meals with organic ingredients on the regular to stave off a bloated belly and thighs that touch. I did everything I had observed as a child because ultimately it works. I watched her do it for years. But what I learned rather quickly is that dating men in that particular orbit is no picnic at all. 

They truly believe the entire universe revolves around them and their underwhelming penises and that everything they do all the time is just so fucking great. It’s exhausting having to exalt those types of men, day in and day out, just to secure a Harry Winston diamond, a generous allowance for fillers, Botox and other miscellaneous body maintenance and most importantly, a life of true leisure without a care in the world. The ultimate safety net. Impenetrable. Though many of my attempts were ill-fated, I stayed the course because I believed wholeheartedly that it would be well worth it, due to a past I never wanted to relive, and I had to make my future different from hers. But none of those relationships with the so-called “alphas” of New York City panned out in the way I had hoped. 

Philip Hartley, an Ed Harris dupe with a Cialis prescription, dumped me after I deigned to ask his sister-in-law about the family trust when we were blitzed on rosé at their vacation home in Palm Beach. Like we were competitors on The Bachelor, that “recovering” bulimic with a benzo problem told him I was there for “the wrong reasons.” Busted. 

That’s what I got for trusting a woman. Sloppy work on my part. Deserving of the scathing critique she definitely would have given me. I could just hear her, but I always heard her, even when I didn’t want to. The words floating out of her mouth, in that light and airy tone of hers, nearly always in complete juxtaposition to the dark and deprecatory language in my direction. A verbal lashing disguised as care or concern to anyone else’s ear but my own. 

Dan Felix was a high-profile litigator that had previously court-appointed anger management classes and he flat-out smacked me across the face when I got a text from a male co-worker after midnight asking for my dealer’s info. Dan didn’t actually care about the content of the message — he was the one with the coke problem whereas my own usage was rather  infrequent and purely recreational in cases where I thought it could bond me with someone useful — and Dan wrongly assumed I was cheating on him. As if I would waste my time on some junior account executive that shared his place with three roommates in Dumbo. Please. 

But I was learning. An angry man simply would not do.

Speaking of cheating, Morris Haley III, a real estate developer, chronically cheated on me, which I knew would happen on occasion and the act didn’t outright bother me, but there was nothing discreet about his dalliances. I didn’t take kindly to openly looking like a fool in front of others, even though he was outrageously handsome, a rarity, and had one of those Kohler shower rooms with seemingly endless streams of water shooting out from all angles. Pure luxury.

She would have approved of Morris, but my reputation mattered too much to me to carry on with him. Meanwhile, that woman had no concept of a reputation at all. Why would she? Her end game was not like mine. For her, it was about the count. One after another after another after another, for as long as she could. But I wanted something different. I relished in any differences between us; truth be told I craved them. Clung to every last one.

Excerpted from STONE COLD FOX by Rachel Koller Croft, published by Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright © 2023

STONE COLD FOX is Rachel Koller Croft's debut novel but she isn't new to writing which is evident in this book, Ms. Croft is a screenwriter and has written projects for Sony Pictures Entertainment, Comedy Central, and Blumhouse. Early on in the book I thought this would be great to see come to life on the big or even small screen unbeknownst to me there was already a deal in the works with Universal Television.

Bea was raised by her single mom aka the con-artist, she didn't have a typical childhood as her mother had her help with each of her con's and things only got worse as she got older. Now Bea is finally ready for her final con and this one will set her up for the rest of her life...she is determined to make Collin Case fall for her and marry her.

Bea is always the most gorgeous woman in the room so why wouldn't Collin fall for her, especially when she was so good at manipulation he didn't even realize he was being played.

This story is less about the romance between Collin and Bea and more about the conflict between Bea and the women that surround him, from his mother to his best friend Gale and everyone in between Bea finds an adversary in them all and is determined to be the most important woman in Collins life.

While I like the story and all of the twists and turns I felt the story lagged at certain parts and the ending left me with several questions and wondering if there's going to be a second book.

I would recommend this book to those that enjoy Mystery/Suspense Reads.

Happy Reading!!! 

**I have voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Readers Copy of this book for my Blog, Nadine's Obsessed with Books**

ABOUT RACHEL

Rachel Koller Croft is a novelist and WGA award nominated screenwriter in Los Angeles where she has scripted projects for Blumhouse, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Comedy Central, among others. She lives by the beach with her husband, Charles, and their rescue pitbull, Juniper. 

Stone Cold Fox from Berkley & Penguin Random House is Rachel’s debut novel and AVAILABLE NOW. 

Torn Hearts, an original country music horror film from Blumhouse & Epix, starring Katey Sagal, is available ON DIGITAL and streaming on PARAMOUNT+ or AMAZON PRIME.