“Urgent, haunting, and fearless.” ―Megan Abbott, author of Beware the Woman A Barnes & Noble Mystery & Thriller Pick
An Elle Best Book of the Summer
An Apple Best Book of May
A Most Anticipated Book from BookPage, SPY, Lit Hub, and Paste Magazine Cormac McCarthy meets Killing Eve in this gritty, razor-sharp thriller following two indelible women on a path to certain destruction Florence “Florida” Baum is not the hapless innocent she claims to be when she arrives at the Arizona women’s prison―or so her ex-cellmate Diosmary Sandoval keeps insinuating. Dios knows the truth about Florida’s crimes, understands what Florence hides even from herself: that she was never a victim of circumstance, an unlucky bystander misled by a bad man. Dios knows that darkness lives in women too, despite the world’s refusal to see it. And she is determined to open Florida’s eyes and unleash her true self. When an unexpected reprieve gives both women their freedom, Dios’s fixation on Florida turns into a dangerous obsession, and a deadly cat-and-mouse chase ensues from Arizona to the desolate streets of Los Angeles. With blistering, incisive prose, the award-winning author Ivy Pochoda delivers a fast-paced L.A. crime novel for the ages. Gripping and immersive, Sing Her Down is a spellbinding thriller that, at its core, shows just what an angry woman is capable of. An Elle Best Book of the Summer A Most Anticipated Book from BookPage, SPY, Lit Hub, and Paste Magazine "A thoroughly entertaining, mean-as-a-snake modern Western, Sing Her Down hits like a shotgun blast." ―Dennis Lehane, author of Small Mercies “Harrowing . . . Ms. Pochoda fuses elements of several subgenres―psychological thriller, procedural novel, hard-boiled crime saga, even magical-realism fable―to craft an imaginative chronicle of an apocalyptic season. Like the damaged souls that populate its pages, the book defies pigeonholing. Sing Her Down is unforgettable.” ―Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal " Pochoda has delivered another brutal blow in her latest, an existential western that starts with a jailbreak and rip-roars its way through a threatening landscape . . . Pochoda demonstrates keen insight into the minds and hearts of desperate people . . . she never misses a shot." ―Lisa Levy, The Washington Post "Pochoda writes with insight and empathy about women pushing back on the violence perpetrated against them . . . she continues to grow in her power to engage readers far beyond the overused tropes of the crime genre, rising to the heights of other writers [like Cormac McCarthy] whose work does not shy away from evil or bloodshed." ―Paula Woods, LA Times "Electric." ―Barbara VanDenburgh, USA Today “Brave and brilliant writing . . . Sing Her Down ends with the description of a mural that seems to memorialize the final interaction of [the main characters]. People swear they see the mural move, that the mural is alive. So is this challenging, singular novel.” ―Carlo Wolff, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette " One of the best crime novels in recent years . . . Sing Her Down is a real accomplishment, a novel that interrogates the violence inherent in both the American carceral system and society as a whole." ―Michael Schaub, Alta "Gripping, relentless . . . Sing Her Down is brutal and chaotic and entertaining, but somewhere down deep there’s a tiny beating heart with a few wise things to say about guilt and growth." ―Patrick Rapa, The Philadelphia Inquirer “A haunting noir thriller stretching from Arizona up to the California coast, Sing Her Down follows prison cellmates Florida and Dios, and the dark truths Dios hopes to draw from her new friend. When both women are released, Dios chases Florida to Los Angeles in this hot, propulsive new book from the author of These Women .” ―Lauren Puckett-Pope, Elle " Sing Her Down , Pochoda’s tour de force, looks at the rage women may carry, why a person would abandon a comfortable, middle-class living for crime and violence . . . Her staccato writing further elevates the novel and is reminiscent of James Ellroy’s style, only more refined [with a] powerful finale." ―Oline H. Cogdill, Sun Sentinel “We’re obsessed with Ivy Pochoda, whose previous books Wonder Valley and Visitation Street crackled with menace and energy . . . Pochoda’s writing is both poetic and violent, just like the story itself, and her searing, detailed descriptions make post apocalyptic L.A. feel like a character of its own. We loved this dark, page-turning read.” ― Apple Books “A gritty thriller with a fiery heart, Sing Her Down is a pulse-pounding western with a devastating message about the oft-forgotten explosions made by women the world tries hard not to see.” ―Alice Martin, Shelf Awareness “Since 2013’s Visitation Street , Pochoda’s gotten better with every book. I don’t know what she’s got up her sleeve for the next one, but it’s going to be tough to top this
An Elle Best Book of the Summer
An Apple Best Book of May
A Most Anticipated Book from BookPage, SPY, Lit Hub, and Paste Magazine Cormac McCarthy meets Killing Eve in this gritty, razor-sharp thriller following two indelible women on a path to certain destruction Florence “Florida” Baum is not the hapless innocent she claims to be when she arrives at the Arizona women’s prison―or so her ex-cellmate Diosmary Sandoval keeps insinuating. Dios knows the truth about Florida’s crimes, understands what Florence hides even from herself: that she was never a victim of circumstance, an unlucky bystander misled by a bad man. Dios knows that darkness lives in women too, despite the world’s refusal to see it. And she is determined to open Florida’s eyes and unleash her true self. When an unexpected reprieve gives both women their freedom, Dios’s fixation on Florida turns into a dangerous obsession, and a deadly cat-and-mouse chase ensues from Arizona to the desolate streets of Los Angeles. With blistering, incisive prose, the award-winning author Ivy Pochoda delivers a fast-paced L.A. crime novel for the ages. Gripping and immersive, Sing Her Down is a spellbinding thriller that, at its core, shows just what an angry woman is capable of. An Elle Best Book of the Summer A Most Anticipated Book from BookPage, SPY, Lit Hub, and Paste Magazine "A thoroughly entertaining, mean-as-a-snake modern Western, Sing Her Down hits like a shotgun blast." ―Dennis Lehane, author of Small Mercies “Harrowing . . . Ms. Pochoda fuses elements of several subgenres―psychological thriller, procedural novel, hard-boiled crime saga, even magical-realism fable―to craft an imaginative chronicle of an apocalyptic season. Like the damaged souls that populate its pages, the book defies pigeonholing. Sing Her Down is unforgettable.” ―Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal " Pochoda has delivered another brutal blow in her latest, an existential western that starts with a jailbreak and rip-roars its way through a threatening landscape . . . Pochoda demonstrates keen insight into the minds and hearts of desperate people . . . she never misses a shot." ―Lisa Levy, The Washington Post "Pochoda writes with insight and empathy about women pushing back on the violence perpetrated against them . . . she continues to grow in her power to engage readers far beyond the overused tropes of the crime genre, rising to the heights of other writers [like Cormac McCarthy] whose work does not shy away from evil or bloodshed." ―Paula Woods, LA Times "Electric." ―Barbara VanDenburgh, USA Today “Brave and brilliant writing . . . Sing Her Down ends with the description of a mural that seems to memorialize the final interaction of [the main characters]. People swear they see the mural move, that the mural is alive. So is this challenging, singular novel.” ―Carlo Wolff, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette " One of the best crime novels in recent years . . . Sing Her Down is a real accomplishment, a novel that interrogates the violence inherent in both the American carceral system and society as a whole." ―Michael Schaub, Alta "Gripping, relentless . . . Sing Her Down is brutal and chaotic and entertaining, but somewhere down deep there’s a tiny beating heart with a few wise things to say about guilt and growth." ―Patrick Rapa, The Philadelphia Inquirer “A haunting noir thriller stretching from Arizona up to the California coast, Sing Her Down follows prison cellmates Florida and Dios, and the dark truths Dios hopes to draw from her new friend. When both women are released, Dios chases Florida to Los Angeles in this hot, propulsive new book from the author of These Women .” ―Lauren Puckett-Pope, Elle " Sing Her Down , Pochoda’s tour de force, looks at the rage women may carry, why a person would abandon a comfortable, middle-class living for crime and violence . . . Her staccato writing further elevates the novel and is reminiscent of James Ellroy’s style, only more refined [with a] powerful finale." ―Oline H. Cogdill, Sun Sentinel “We’re obsessed with Ivy Pochoda, whose previous books Wonder Valley and Visitation Street crackled with menace and energy . . . Pochoda’s writing is both poetic and violent, just like the story itself, and her searing, detailed descriptions make post apocalyptic L.A. feel like a character of its own. We loved this dark, page-turning read.” ― Apple Books “A gritty thriller with a fiery heart, Sing Her Down is a pulse-pounding western with a devastating message about the oft-forgotten explosions made by women the world tries hard not to see.” ―Alice Martin, Shelf Awareness “Since 2013’s Visitation Street , Pochoda’s gotten better with every book. I don’t know what she’s got up her sleeve for the next one, but it’s going to be tough to top this