What Boys Learn
Subtitle
A Novel
From the author of "The Deepest Lake" comes a gripping novel of psychological suspense that unravels a mother’s worst fear—that her son may have played a part in the murders of two teenage girls in a wealthy Chicago suburb.
Over one terrible weekend, two teenage girls are found dead in a wealthy Chicago suburb. As the community mourns, Abby Rosso, the girls’ high school counselor, begins to suspect that her son, Benjamin, was secretly involved in their lives—and possibly, their deaths.
Abby doesn’t want to believe Benjamin hurt anyone. But she’s seen the warning signs before. Two decades ago, her brother was imprisoned for a disturbing crime—he was only a little older than Benjamin is now. And Abby has more troubling memories from her own adolescence that confirm what boys and men are capable of. As Abby searches for the truth about what happened to her students, she’s forced to face the question: Has she been making excuses for Benjamin for years?
Swirling with sharp questions about family, memory, and psychopathy, "What Boys Learn" is a twisty thriller about how boys are raised—and what they are taught they can get away with.
Bio
Andromeda Romano-Lax is an Arizona State University alum, having earned a Master of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MTESOL) degree in 2022.
Praise for this book
Romano-Lax has spun another thriller not to be missed, with twists aplenty and enough questions about psychopathy and toxic masculinity to keep the chattiest of book clubs discussing long past meeting’s end.
Library Journal, Starred Review
Nothing can prepare readers for the running-against-the-clock action of the last few chapters, which, in retrospect, Romano-Lax has set up beautifully. A stunner.
Booklist, Starred Review