The unputdownable thriller about cults, true crime and toxic mothers
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'Darkly addictive' Katy Hays
'Fiction with a true-crime edge' Janice Hallett
'Will capture capture your attention until the very end' Monika Kim
'A twisty, coming-of-age thriller' Charmaine Wilkerson
'Stands shoulder to shoulder with the best cult thrillers' Ashley Winstead
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EVERYBODY KNOWS THE STORY. NOBODY KNOWS THE TRUTH...
Lucy Golden is a true-crime icon, infamous for killing someone as a teenager while escaping a California cult.
Twenty years later, still coasting on the success of the memoir she wrote after her acquittal, Lucy knows that her story is always just one news cycle away from obscurity, even as online trolls ask questions that threaten to tear her life apart.
So when a hot-shot documentary filmmaker decides to make her case his next subject, Lucy sees a chance to silence her doubters once and for all.
But just how far will Lucy go to protect the story she's been telling - and selling - all along?
________________________
Readers are loving Paper Cut
'WOW! What a stunning debut!'
'I'd watch the hell out of the Netflix adaptation'
'Psychological suspense, cult horror, and celebrity noir'
'Twisted, fast-paced and totally engrossing'
'I read this in one sitting'
Genre: Mystery
________________________
'Darkly addictive' Katy Hays
'Fiction with a true-crime edge' Janice Hallett
'Will capture capture your attention until the very end' Monika Kim
'A twisty, coming-of-age thriller' Charmaine Wilkerson
'Stands shoulder to shoulder with the best cult thrillers' Ashley Winstead
________________________
EVERYBODY KNOWS THE STORY. NOBODY KNOWS THE TRUTH...
Lucy Golden is a true-crime icon, infamous for killing someone as a teenager while escaping a California cult.
Twenty years later, still coasting on the success of the memoir she wrote after her acquittal, Lucy knows that her story is always just one news cycle away from obscurity, even as online trolls ask questions that threaten to tear her life apart.
So when a hot-shot documentary filmmaker decides to make her case his next subject, Lucy sees a chance to silence her doubters once and for all.
But just how far will Lucy go to protect the story she's been telling - and selling - all along?
________________________
Readers are loving Paper Cut
'WOW! What a stunning debut!'
'I'd watch the hell out of the Netflix adaptation'
'Psychological suspense, cult horror, and celebrity noir'
'Twisted, fast-paced and totally engrossing'
'I read this in one sitting'
Genre: Mystery
Praise for this book
"Rachel Taff's psychologically astute debut Paper Cut enthralled me with its twisty revelations and immersive storytelling. In tautly written alternating timelines of past and present, Lucy Golden's secrets are carefully unraveled. An utterly fascinating meditation on the perils of fame and the desire to control the story of your life at all costs." - Caitlin Barasch
"Paper Cut is razor-sharp, dark, and propulsive. Rachel Taff exposes the shadows beneath survival and celebrity - the stories we tell to stay free, and the lies that warp our days. Mesmerizing and unflinching, gripping and twisty, I'd follow Lucy Golden anywhere. An explosive debut from a bold new talent." - Chelsea Bieker
"Smart, twisty, and evocative. Paper Cut drew me in with its Hollywood personalities, desert cultists, and buried secrets, but it kept me reading with its insights into the nature of art and family. I tore through Paper Cut in a single weekend, transported to its noirish west coast settings and enthralled by Taff's masterful storytelling. The kind of book you thrust in your best friend's hand so that you can discuss: what's the difference between our lies and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive?" - Kate Brody
"Haunting and propulsive, Rachel Taff's Paper Cut delves into the darker side of what makes an artist, who gets a voice and why the pursuit of the truth is often the most treacherous path. This is a sharp debut with a broken yet beating heart, splashed against the trainwreck allure of true crime as a genre, where trauma is mined for entertainment, marking the steep price we all pay for admission." - Rachel Koller Croft
"Dark, shocking and impossible to put down. It's a long time since I've read a book where I've had to keep sneaking off during the day to read a bit more, like a teenager! Fantastic." - Emma Curtis
"Paper Cut is a rare find: a debut crime novel that's gripping, accomplished, original and entertaining. This is fiction with a true crime edge. A story that reminds us the media is just a prism through which the world's worst events are distorted, and that individual stories can be far more twisted and shocking than anyone could possibly imagine... a fabulous story, beautifully told and with echoes that reverberate long after the final page." - Janice Hallett
"Darkly addictive with a blistering pace and puzzle-box structure, Paper Cut takes all the juiciest elements of true crime and assembles them in a dazzling new constellation. Elegant and smart, readers will find Taff's debut as intoxicating as the cultish outpost at its core, and just as terrifying, too. An absolutely stunning crime novel." - Katy Hays
"The book is so cleverly constructed... the result is a compelling, tightly-plotted page-turner, as glimpses of the truth appear." - Kate Kemp
"Fraught with tension and propulsively told, Paper Cut confronts our collective fascination with cults and true crime. As Lucy's unraveling drags you kicking and screaming into the spiral of her past, Taff's writing will capture your attention until the very end." - Monika Kim
"Paper Cut is so intoxicating and unputdownable that I basically absconded from society until I finished. Rachel Taff has crafted an unforgettable thriller that sears and redeems in equal measure." - Ruth Madievsky
"Paper Cut slices deep - into memory, into pain, into the fragile truths we try to hide. A brilliant debut that lingers like a scar." - Jo Morey
"Propulsive, poignant, and laced with gorgeous prose, Paper Cut has everything I want in a thriller. It's a debut that sings with truth and sizzles with twists, forcing the reader to examine their own relationship with art and true-crime-as-entertainment. Rachel Taff is a new auto-buy author for me." - Olivia Muenter
"An electric debut that peels back the glossy surface of fame to expose the wounds beneath. Paper Cut is both a pulse-racing thriller and a searing meditation on who owns the truth of a story. It's an intricately woven novel that's part psychological suspense and part emotional gut-punch. I'm jealous of everyone who gets to read this unflinching debut for the first time." - Amanda Pellegrino
"Thought provoking and entertaining. I couldn't put it down. A twisty-turny and satisfying novel. An exceptional debut." - Sascha Rothchild
"A twisty, coming-of-age thriller that will have you thinking about hero worship, the lure of fame, and the search for belonging." - Charmaine Wilkerson
"Gorgeously written, with an arch, seductive narrative voice and a timely dissection of the true-crime industrial complex, Paper Cut stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the best cult thrillers, particularly those that interrogate how women might use sensationalist crime narratives to shape their own identities. Taff is an exciting new voice." - Ashley Winstead
"What a scorcher! So evocative is Rachel Taff's desert setting that I swear I could feel the sand between my teeth. Paper Cut is a dishy yet razor sharp exploration of how far people will go to preserve fame, power, and our darkest secrets. This one is not to be missed." - Stephanie Wrobel
"Paper Cut is razor-sharp, dark, and propulsive. Rachel Taff exposes the shadows beneath survival and celebrity - the stories we tell to stay free, and the lies that warp our days. Mesmerizing and unflinching, gripping and twisty, I'd follow Lucy Golden anywhere. An explosive debut from a bold new talent." - Chelsea Bieker
"Smart, twisty, and evocative. Paper Cut drew me in with its Hollywood personalities, desert cultists, and buried secrets, but it kept me reading with its insights into the nature of art and family. I tore through Paper Cut in a single weekend, transported to its noirish west coast settings and enthralled by Taff's masterful storytelling. The kind of book you thrust in your best friend's hand so that you can discuss: what's the difference between our lies and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive?" - Kate Brody
"Haunting and propulsive, Rachel Taff's Paper Cut delves into the darker side of what makes an artist, who gets a voice and why the pursuit of the truth is often the most treacherous path. This is a sharp debut with a broken yet beating heart, splashed against the trainwreck allure of true crime as a genre, where trauma is mined for entertainment, marking the steep price we all pay for admission." - Rachel Koller Croft
"Dark, shocking and impossible to put down. It's a long time since I've read a book where I've had to keep sneaking off during the day to read a bit more, like a teenager! Fantastic." - Emma Curtis
"Paper Cut is a rare find: a debut crime novel that's gripping, accomplished, original and entertaining. This is fiction with a true crime edge. A story that reminds us the media is just a prism through which the world's worst events are distorted, and that individual stories can be far more twisted and shocking than anyone could possibly imagine... a fabulous story, beautifully told and with echoes that reverberate long after the final page." - Janice Hallett
"Darkly addictive with a blistering pace and puzzle-box structure, Paper Cut takes all the juiciest elements of true crime and assembles them in a dazzling new constellation. Elegant and smart, readers will find Taff's debut as intoxicating as the cultish outpost at its core, and just as terrifying, too. An absolutely stunning crime novel." - Katy Hays
"The book is so cleverly constructed... the result is a compelling, tightly-plotted page-turner, as glimpses of the truth appear." - Kate Kemp
"Fraught with tension and propulsively told, Paper Cut confronts our collective fascination with cults and true crime. As Lucy's unraveling drags you kicking and screaming into the spiral of her past, Taff's writing will capture your attention until the very end." - Monika Kim
"Paper Cut is so intoxicating and unputdownable that I basically absconded from society until I finished. Rachel Taff has crafted an unforgettable thriller that sears and redeems in equal measure." - Ruth Madievsky
"Paper Cut slices deep - into memory, into pain, into the fragile truths we try to hide. A brilliant debut that lingers like a scar." - Jo Morey
"Propulsive, poignant, and laced with gorgeous prose, Paper Cut has everything I want in a thriller. It's a debut that sings with truth and sizzles with twists, forcing the reader to examine their own relationship with art and true-crime-as-entertainment. Rachel Taff is a new auto-buy author for me." - Olivia Muenter
"An electric debut that peels back the glossy surface of fame to expose the wounds beneath. Paper Cut is both a pulse-racing thriller and a searing meditation on who owns the truth of a story. It's an intricately woven novel that's part psychological suspense and part emotional gut-punch. I'm jealous of everyone who gets to read this unflinching debut for the first time." - Amanda Pellegrino
"Thought provoking and entertaining. I couldn't put it down. A twisty-turny and satisfying novel. An exceptional debut." - Sascha Rothchild
"A twisty, coming-of-age thriller that will have you thinking about hero worship, the lure of fame, and the search for belonging." - Charmaine Wilkerson
"Gorgeously written, with an arch, seductive narrative voice and a timely dissection of the true-crime industrial complex, Paper Cut stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the best cult thrillers, particularly those that interrogate how women might use sensationalist crime narratives to shape their own identities. Taff is an exciting new voice." - Ashley Winstead
"What a scorcher! So evocative is Rachel Taff's desert setting that I swear I could feel the sand between my teeth. Paper Cut is a dishy yet razor sharp exploration of how far people will go to preserve fame, power, and our darkest secrets. This one is not to be missed." - Stephanie Wrobel
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