The Mortons

Advance praise for The Mortons:

“The Mortons are. . . what you would get if you put the Corleones, the Addamses, the Targaryens and the Borgias together. . . The book thrums with creative verve, mordant humor and amusing detours into subjects like art, avant-garde fashion and mixology.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“Slippery, sinister, and so much fun.”
—Charlotte McConaghy, New York Times bestselling author of Wild Dark Shore

“Stunningly original and fiendishly good. The Mortons left me reeling. A masterclass in moral ambiguity and shocking twists.”
—Sarah Pekkanen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Locked Ward

“The Mortons is a tour de force: witty, thrilling, and deliciously cruel. Enjoy it with a stiff cocktail.”
—Lev Grossman, New York Times bestselling author of The Magicians trilogy

“A fresh, fun, and sneakily hilarious dark academia romp.”
—People

“[Larbalestier and Westerfeld have] crafted a morally ambiguous and wickedly dark mystery thriller with all the elements anyone could possibly want to see in a dark academia novel, and then some…This delectably original and fast-paced story packs more than enough narrative meat on its bones. Twists, surprises, and moments of purely diabolical entertainment make this the sort of book that begs to be read with a bold, sophisticated cocktail at hand.”
—Collider

“If you recently loved Our Wicked Gifts by Kathryn Foxfield and you adore Succession, then you’ll want to take a look at The Mortons by Justine Larbalestier and Scott Westerfield. . . it’s packed with old-money dynasties, vintage garments, and crime.”
—Parade

“Jessica Morton is the daughter of an ancient and powerful family, in competition with her cousins to run their criminal empire. Each generation attends a private boarding school with a shadow curriculum, in which the cousins learn the art of creative accounting, subtle influence, and bold assassination; each generation accepts that they may be culled before they begin to live, for this is their family’s way. But something is changing, has already changed—Jessica’s generation is far too small, her family seems desperate, and a rebellion may be brewing. Once you start reading this one, you won’t be able to stop! Just as the Morton family planned…”
—CrimeReads

“A page-turning tale about an “Old Money” family. . . a bracing and searching story about the lengths a child will go to make their family proud. Readers won’t want to put this down.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Justine Larbalestier and Scott Westerfeld create a complex, riveting character in 20-year-old narrator Jessica Morton, who’s been raised by her family to steal and murder without detection… Larbalestier and Westerfeld render the constellation of family members with sensational details… The plot unfolds at breakneck speed as the authors immerse readers in a world of “loyalty without care,” so it’s all the more impressive how worthy of care Jessica turns out to be… In this fascinating thriller, Jessica Morton is a prodigy in a family of assassins and money launderers–until she develops feelings for her assigned “prey.””
—Shelf Awareness

“Readers should prepare to be haunted by the family’s cruelty, but they will root for Jessica as she seeks to finally claim compassion and empathy.”
—Booklist

“The Mortons are the most spectacularly unhinged crime family ever imagined. Their story hurtled along so fast and surprised me so often I was shocked to realize I’d been contemplating and recalibrating my moral compass as I read. An absolute delight.”
—E. Lockhart, #1 New York Times bestselling author of We Were Liars

“Lush and darkly funny, The Mortons is a moreish, enveloping crime epic.”
—Flynn Berry, New York Times bestselling author of Trust Her

“Diabolical and delicious, the world of the Mortons—a murderous family dynasty—is as real and tangible as the one we inhabit. So much so that I’m not entirely sure they aren’t out there, scheming, culling and blooding their brood, one at a time. Watch your back. Utterly delightful and disturbing.”
—Julie Clark, New York Times bestselling author of The Ghostwriter

“Succession meets The Secret History. Contemporary dark academia at its best.”
—Will Dean, international bestselling author of Adrift

“Serves up a robustly imagined world that. . . abounds with nods to horror and macabre symbolism. . . . The novel affords some of the pleasures generated by Addams and Soprano family shenanigans.”
—Kirkus

“The Mortons is twisty and twisted fun. Truly original!”
—Tracy Sierra, author of Nightwatching

“This diabolical novel reads like a mashup of Succession and The Umbrella Academy, except set within an old-money family of assassins. With its knife-sharp writing, rocket fuel pacing, and air of mystery, The Mortons is easy to get lost in, all the way up to the brutal end.”
—Ashley Winstead, national bestselling author of This Book Will Bury Me

“Dark academia has never been so dark, nor family legacy so beguilingly treacherous! Sinister, shocking, and tantalizingly possible, The Secret History meets Succession in this epic and utterly chilling family saga. What makes us who we are, and how can our moral codes be twisted to into cold and ruthless alliance? Identity, loyalty, and the power of personal decision all teeter on the precipice in this tour de force of storytelling—and I held my breath through the entire book. Call your book club and settle in—you will never be the same after you meet the Mortons.”
—Hank Phillippi Ryan, national bestselling author of All This Could Be Yours