4.5
A Nest of Snakes
ByPublisher Description
In her fiction debut, Deborah Levison, author of the acclaimed, multi award-winning true crime book, THE CRATE, weaves a tale snatched from the headlines. A NEST OF SNAKES is loosely based on a spate of lawsuits in which adult men accused their elite private schools of abuses that shocked the nation.
In A NEST OF SNAKES, Brendan Cortland is a broken man. Middle-aged, pasty, pudgy, and fearful, he suffers from chronic depression, nightmares, and agoraphobia. His contact with the outside world is limited to trolling chatrooms, where he hunts pedophiles, and a weekly session with his psychiatrist, to whom he describes dreams of being devoured by predators. The doctor suspects catastrophic abuse, and maybe something more; but in all his years of therapy Brendan never divulged the deepest source of his trauma.
Pushed to his breaking point, Brendan embarks on a quest for justice. It's the terrifying step he's avoided for decades: going public with his story. His lawyer warns him that testifying might mean dredging up painful memories, ones he'd rather keep buried.
Still, no one is prepared for the horrible secrets and revelations that emerge during the trial … least of all Brendan himself.
Reviewers call A NEST OF SNAKES "heart wrenching," "raw and compelling," "unforgettable," and "a roller-coaster ride of surprising twists" leading to a "staggering climax" and an "absolutely perfect" ending.
hails A NEST OF SNAKES as one of the fall's most talked-about novels.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesA Nest of Snakes Reviews
4.5
Kaisha
Created 8 months agoShare
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“Wow. I don’t even know what to say. This is a very traumatic book. What happens to our main character is horrific. Read your trigger warnings.”
WhatZoReads
Created over 1 year agoShare
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“A plot as slippery as a nest of snakes this book is about systemic abuse in the private school sector and is a work of fiction inspired by shocking real life events. This is what I wish The Four could’ve been crossed with Lorenzo Carcaterra’s Sleepers, a gut-puncher of a book that’s hard to stomach in places. Please check content and trigger warnings because this comes with the full contingent of bells and whistles. We follow adult Brendan, who recounts the horrors of his 80s childhood spent at the prestigious boarding school Torburton Hall. What follows is a legal thriller when one man takes on an institution renowned for turning out society’s most elite. This could’ve been a 5 star read and perhaps in the hands of another authors more sensitively handled hands this could’ve potentially rendered me a totally non functioning wreck on my floor but it went a little wonky at the end. I fear this snake might have ended up biting its own handler.”Heather-Lyn Falgout
Created over 1 year agoShare
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Geneva.Bookdiary
Created almost 3 years agoShare
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“A nest of snakes
5 ⭐️
Heart wrenching novel about abuse / child sexual assault at a all boys private school.
It’s a very very powerful story that uncovers what Brendan had been dealing with since the school. Reading his terrorizing past just kept me turning and turning the pages.
Highly recommend searching triggers if you have any.
Thank you for this copy of the book In exchange for a honest review. This is one I will always recommend if you want a great story with a powerful ending.
A fictional debut I would have never thought it’s written so well and the story top tier.
Trigger ⚠️ warnings:
Depression
Pedophilia
Bullying
SA minor”
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