While Susan Rigetti’s crime fiction novel Cover Story is not the best book I’ve read recently, it was engrossing and I couldn’t put it down. It has strong Inventing Anna vibes, and if you are enjoying all the con artist shows that are currently streaming as much as I am, I confidently recommend this book.The narrator is Lora Ricci, a naive young woman who found herself in over her head academically when she transferred to NYU from community college. She ends up on academic probation and loses her scholarship, and cannot afford the tuition. She tries to push those worries aside as she begins a summer internship at Elle Magazine, pursuing her dream of becoming a writer. The story is told mostly through Lora’s diary entries, and also includes text messages, memos, and emails betweenFBI agents and other characters.
Lora finds herself working alone, and is struggling to make an impact as an intern when she meets Cat Wolff, an employee of Elle Magazine. The author makes heavy use of dramatic irony, as Lora is too sweet and unsophisticated to realize that Cat is not who she claims to be. We know that the FBI has its eye on Cat, and we see emails from Cat to her younger brother regarding stolen identities, crypto purchases, etc. Even when Lora is warned that Cat is dangerous, Lora decides to follow her gut and stay loyal to Cat.
When Lora’s internship ends, she accepts Cat’s offer of “employment,” in which Lora believes that she will be getting paid to ghostwrite a book for Cat. As Lora becomes closer to Cat, her suspicions are raised by some of Cat’s odd behaviors, but she remains loyal to Cat until she has no other choice.
I don’t want to give anything away, so I will stop here. There is a twist at the very end, which I definitely did not see coming and still do not really understand – so if you read the book, please tell me what you think happens in the end! If you are looking for a quick, entertaining read, this definitely fits the bill.