Bonfire (Ritter)

Bonfire 
Krysten Ritter, 2017
Crown/Archetype
288 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781524759841


Summary
A gripping, tightly wound suspense novel about a woman forced to confront her past in the wake of small-town corruption.
 
It has been ten years since Abby Williams left home and scrubbed away all visible evidence of her small-town roots. Now working as an environmental lawyer in Chicago, she has a thriving career, a modern apartment, and her pick of meaningless one-night stands.

But when a new case takes her back home to Barrens, Indiana, the life Abby painstakingly created begins to crack. Tasked with investigating Optimal Plastics, the town’s most high-profile company and economic heart, Abby begins to find strange connections to Barrens’s biggest scandal from more than a decade ago, involving the popular Kaycee Mitchell and her closest friends—just before Kaycee disappeared for good.

Abby knows the key to solving any case lies in the weak spots, the unanswered questions. But as she tries desperately to find out what really happened to Kaycee, troubling memories begin to resurface and she begins to doubt her own observations.

And when she unearths an even more disturbing secret—a ritual called “The Game”—it will threaten reputations, and lives, in the community and risk exposing a darkness that may consume her.

With tantalizing twists, slow-burning suspense, and a remote rural town of just five claustrophobic square miles, Bonfire is a dark exploration of what happens when your past and present collide. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth—December 16, 1981
• Where—Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, USA
• Education—Northwest Area High School
• Currently—lives in New York, NY and Los Angeles, California


Krysten Alyce Ritter is an American actress, former model, and author. Ritter is known for her roles as lead superheroine Jessica Jones on the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Jessica Jones and The Defenders, Jane Margolis on the AMC drama series Breaking Bad, and Chloe on the ABC comedy series Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23. She has appeared in films such as What Happens in Vegas (2008), 27 Dresses (2008), Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009), She's Out of My League (2010), Veronica Mars (2014), and Big Eyes (2014). She has also had roles in the television shows Gravity, 'Til Death, Veronica Mars, Gossip Girl, and The Blacklist.

She published her debut novel, Bonfire, a thriller, to solid reviews in 2017.

Early life
Ritter was born in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Garry Ritter and Kathi Taylor. She was raised on a farm outside Shickshinny, Pennsylvania, where her mother, stepfather and sister live; her father lives in nearby Benton. Ritter graduated in 2000 from Northwest Area High School.

Modeling
When she was only 15, Ritter was scouted by an agent at a modeling event at the local shopping mall, the Wyoming Valley Mall. Ritter described herself at the time as "tall, gawky, awkward, and really, really skinny" to Philadelphia Style magazine. During the remainder of her high school years, she traveled on her days off to modeling gigs in New York and Philadelphia. She signed with the Elite Model Management agency and then with Wilhelmina Models. By the age of 18, she was living in New York full-time and beginning to establish an international modeling career in print and on TV. She did magazine, catalog, and runway work in Milan, New York, Paris, and Tokyo.

Acting
Ritter's acting career began when Wilhelmina sent her to audition for a Dr Pepper TV commercial. Ritter told Philadelphia Style that she believed her "outgoing and bubbly and funny" personality entertained the casting people and eased her transition into acting. The ad job opened up doors, allowing her to play several bit film roles starting in 2001, eventually playing the role of a history student in Julia Roberts' Mona Lisa Smile (2003). In 2006, she appeared in two off-Broadway plays.

During those early years, Ritter had a number of guest starring roles on television, and appeared on the second season of Veronica Mars, playing Gia Goodman, the daughter of mayor Woody Goodman (Steve Guttenberg). She also guest-starred on Gilmore Girls for eight episodes from 2006 to 2007 as Rory Gilmore's friend, Lucy.

In 2007, Ritter moved from Brooklyn (New York City) to Los Angeles, where she continued to further her budding film and TV career. She lives in L.A. still, but splits her time between there and New York City. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 11/15/2017. The full-length version is available at Wikipedia.)

Book Reviews
The Jessica Jones star makes an auspicious literary debut with Bonfire, spinning a suspenseful, psychologically gripping story.
Entertainment Weekly


In this adroit debut the star of Marvel's Jessica Jones proves her talents aren't limited to acting.… [Bonfire is] a thriller that delivers suspense, surprise and satisfaction.
People


(Starred review.) [A] triumphant…pulse-pounding thriller featuring a sympathetic, broken lead character.… Abby’s noirish worldview … is pitch-perfect, and Ritter effectively uses [her] present-tense narration to create immediacy.
Publishers Weekly

Ritter, lead actress on television’s Jessica Jones, is likely to attract readers with her name, but this strong, gritty debut is good enough to create its own fan following.
Booklist


[Abby] digs deeper … all while wrestling with her own, somewhat predictable, demons that Ritter … tries admirably to spice up. A fast-paced thriller that doesn’t reinvent the wheel but introduces a tough female lead who’s easy to root for.
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
1. Would you call Abby an unreliable narrator? Do you trust her?

2. Do you relate to Abby? What are Abby’s greatest vulnerabilities? Do you think she has strengths or vulnerabilities that she is unaware of?

3. After working so hard to leave Barrens and her small-town roots behind, why did Abby return home? Did she find what she was looking for?

4. Why did Abby turn her environmental investigation into a search for Kaycee? Why did Abby keep pushing, even when she was threatened?

5. Describe Abby’s relationship with her father. How did her parents and upbringing shape who she became as an adult?

6. What do you think of Misha? Does the author intend for her to be a sympathetic character? Why or why not?

7. What pressures led Brent to get involved with Optimal’s exploitation of local high school girls? Is Brent to blame?

8. Describe the scenes in which the town comes together to celebrate – their bonfires and football games. In what ways are the characters trying to relive their high school days? Do they succeed?

9. What does the novel say about reconciling with your past? Do you think Abby was happy that she returned to Barrens?

10. Could this story have happened in a bigger town or a city? What about Barrens made it easy for Optimal to take advantage of its citizens? Is there an underlying takeaway about the relationship between big companies and small towns? Explain.

11. Were you surprised by the revelations at the end of the book? Did you suspect Brent or Misha all along?

12. Are Abby and Condor a good match? Did you want to see them together in the end?

13. What do you think the future holds for Abby? Were you satisfied with the ending?)
(Questions issued by the publisher.)

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