FIRST DATE

At 33, Amandine has never been on a real date. Since her parents died, she’s been living in her childhood home, constantly doomscrolling and unable to retain a job due to her undiagnosed neurodiversity. Thirty-year-old Connor is unemployed, living with his father, and still dealing with the emotional trauma from his mother’s abuse and abandonment. After weeks of texting, they finally meet at a local gastropub. However, Amandine is unsettled by the only other patron there, a greasy-ponytailed middle-aged man wearing a wrinkled tuxedo and slurping down a bowl of tomato soup. Besides a few rocky moments, the date goes very well—until Amandine and Connor are alone in the parking lot, phones dead, forced to walk several miles home. They get less than a mile down the road before Amandine’s heels and the arctic chill incapacitate them, and Connor negotiates with a passing car for a ride. Amandine reluctantly allows Connor to coax her into the car, only to realize too late that the driver is the Lone Diner from earlier. What follows is a harrowing tale of kidnapping and brutality, as Amandine and Connor battle to survive. Amor’s prose is unnerving, with plenty of grotesque imagery that will keep readers hooked and disturbed. Told from the perspectives of Amandine, Connor, and the Lone Diner, the book allows readers to experience both the horror of the victims and the warped mindset of the predator. Amandine’s descriptions of daily life as a neurodivergent person ring true, such as when she describes dealing with executive dysfunction: “On the really bad days, I can’t even dress myself, wash my hair, brush my teeth.” The unexpected ending may divide readers, but they’ll be riveted from beginning to end.