Wolves of Summer

Praise for Wolves of Summer

A CrimeReads Most Anticipated Mystery of Fall

“Freitas convincingly draws on her upbringing in 1970s and ’80s New England to evoke the mood and mores of the period, and she nimbly balances suspense with a searing critique of the ways the wealthy protect their own. This deeply felt whodunit will keep readers guessing until its explosive conclusion.”
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“Both a coming-of-age tale and a fight-against-power story rooted in violence and normalized misogyny—but driven by resilience, love, and these women’s desire to take their bodies back from the male gaze. Freitas grew up in Rhode Island herself, and there’s a bittersweetness to the novel; it celebrates people’s memories of paradise as well as the moment scales fall from their eyes, celebrating the strength and bonds of sisterhood forged in loss and knowledge. Poignant and empowering, with a strong mystery at its heart.”
—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

“A tightly plotted missing-child mystery that explores adolescent trauma, the bonds of female friendship, and attitudes toward teenage victims of sexual violence.”
—Booklist

“Coastal Rhode Island is fleshed out in lush prose that captures the nostalgia of freewheeling youthful summers spent barefoot and riding bicycles through sandy beach grass…A raw mystery novel about sexual politics, Wolves of Summer follows women fighting for justice in a beach town that is set in its ways.”
—Foreword Reviews, Starred Review

“Donna Freitas has already proven herself one of the most fearless and fascinating writers around, especially with the suspense story Her One Regret, which addressed a taboo subject—motherhood, regretted—with compassion, understanding, and nuance. Her newest work, which I devoured in a single day despite the near-500-page length, expands on her previous book’s universe, with a glimpse into character Diana’s first case, as neighbors in a Rhode Island seaside suburb search for a missing girl, and are forced to confront their own long-buried traumas, reemerging in the wake of the preteen’s disappearance . . . Wolves of Summer should be noted as a mystery of some complexity; craftsmanship shines throughout the novel, and the denouement is perfection.”
—Molly Odintz, CrimeReads

“Wolves of Summer is a swirling riptide of a story. This gripping novel explores the fragility of young womanhood and the lasting impacts of a culture that prizes male conquest over female safety. Donna Freitas immerses readers so fully into 1970s Rhode Island beach life that you’ll smell the sea breeze as you turn the pages, even as you worry what will happen next. Perfect for readers who like mysteries that make them think—and keep them up well into the dark hours of the night to read just one more page.”
—Kimberly Hensle Lowrance, author of What Remains of You

“Wolves of Summer is a gripping, gorgeously uneasy beach-town thriller about the line between girlhood and womanhood—and the dangers young women face when the world decides their bodies are no longer innocent. Propulsive, perceptive, and terrifying, this novel grips hard and cuts deep. I absolutely adored this delicious read.”
—Lauren Myracle, New York Times bestselling author of Plays Well with Others

“Wolves of Summer by Donna Freitas is an unputdownable story that centers on the mystery of a twelve-year-old girl who vanishes one night in the summer of 1979. A richly layered novel, Wolves of Summer is also about existing as a teenage girl in a world prowled by male predators, the way wealth protects those who have it, the impossible tug-of-war between childhood and adulthood, and the unique experience of life in a tight-knit, small coastal community. Readers will practically feel the hot sand and cool Rhode Island ocean water as they feverishly flip the pages, sucked in by the important and complex questions this novel poses around consent, culpability, and growing up female.”
—Kristin Offiler, author of The Housewarming

Praise for Donna Freitas

“Freitas addresses a topic little discussed in fiction—that of regretting motherhood—with compassion, demonstrating the consequences of her characters’ choices while also delivering a fingernails-bitten-to-the-quick mystery.”
—Sarah Weinman, The New York Times

“This book manages to be simultaneously a page-turning crime thriller and a deep exploration of one of the ultimate mothering taboos—regret. Absolutely extraordinary.”
—Emily Oster, bestselling author of Expecting Better

“Donna Freitas proves she can ‘say the unsayable’ and weave thorny, important questions about women’s lives into a compelling, entertaining, and provocative suspense novel.”
—Andromeda Romano-Lax, author of The Deepest Lake

“This gripping, character-driven thriller kept me reading late into the night.”
—Julia Bartz, New York Times bestselling author of The Writing Retreat

“Engaging. And thought-provoking. I could not put it down. This book is brilliant, subversive, enjoyable, and deeply revelatory about the inner lives of women and mothers.”
—Lyz Lenz, author of This American Ex-Wife

“Smart, addictive, utterly compelling and shockingly honest—a page turner with a deep, emotional core. So many brilliant observations about women’s lives—this book made me feel so seen, while it kept me guessing.”
—Daisy Buchanan, author of Insatiable