Temper

For fans of the high-stakes tension of the New York Times bestsellers Luckiest Girl Alive and The Lying Game, a razor-sharp page-turner about female ambition and what happens when fake violence draws real blood…

After years of struggling in the Chicago theater scene, ambitious actress Kira Rascher finally lands the role of a lifetime. The catch? Starring in Temper means working with Malcolm Mercer, a mercurial director who’s known for pushing his performers past their limits — onstage and off.

Kira’s convinced she can handle Malcolm, but the theater’s cofounder Joanna Cuyler is another story. Joanna sees Kira as a threat — to her own thwarted artistic aspirations, her twisted relationship with Malcolm, and the shocking secret she’s keeping about the upcoming production. But as opening night draws near, Kira and Joanna both start to realize that Malcolm’s dangerous extremes are nothing compared to what they're capable of themselves.

An edgy, addictive, and fiendishly clever tale of ambition, deceit, and power, Temper is a timely, heart-in-your-throat psychological thriller that will leave you breathless.

“[F]or potboilers, nothing comes close to Temper...There’s violence here, but it’s not only physical; it’s emotional and psychological — even intellectual.” The New York Times Book Review

"Temper is raw, ingenious and utterly fearless. I devoured every word as the story bent and twisted in ways I did not see coming. Layne Fargo delivers psychological suspense at its very best — without tricks or misdirections, just brilliant story telling and profoundly astute observations about human emotions and relationships. Temper is the real deal." Wendy Walker, USA Today bestselling author of The Night Before

"In her dark, sultry debut, Layne Fargo delves deep into the psychological war zone of the theater, perfectly capturing its hothouse world of rivalries, dalliances, and duels — both onstage and off. Toying with the line between victim and villain, real life and fantasy, Temper revels in its mind games, delivering twist after twist as it races toward a Shakespearian climax. The final page will leave you gasping." Amy Gentry, author of Last Woman Standing

Layne Fargo has Master’s degrees in theater and library science. She’s a Pitch Wars mentor and a member of the Chicagoland chapter of Sisters in Crime. Layne lives in Chicago with her partner and their pets.

My debut novel Temper is a psychological thriller set in the intense, insular world of Chicago storefront theater. The story was inspired by the real-life scandal at Chicago’s now-defunct Profiles Theatre...

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