Smith is the pseudonym Joyce Carol Oates uses for her psychological suspense novels, a genre that, given her propensity for abhorrent behavior, she takes to with smashing results. In her latest one, Terence Greene is a very successful executive, husband, and father. One day, he is called to jury duty, an experience in which he has never participated. What an experience it turns out to be--or, more specifically, what an experience he allows it to become. Ava-Rose Renfrew is the alleged victim in the case, and Terence's interest in her goes well beyond that of dutiful juror. In fact, he becomes infatuated with her, and his obsession leaves not only infidelity but also murder in its wake. Terence's normal upper-middle-class life is left in the dust as he skates on the thin ice of unleashed emotions and out-of-control actions. Ironically, his descent into the psychotic maelstrom amounts to a greatly enticing read for all Oates/Smith fans. Brad Hooper
About the Author
Joyce Carol Oates was born in Lockport, New York. After graduating from high school, she attended Syracuse University and then earned her master of arts from the University of Wisconsin–Madison before becoming a full-time writer. In 1963, she published her first book, the short story collection By the North Gate, and in 1964, when she was twenty-six years old, her first novel, With Shuddering Fall. Oates has written over forty works, many of which have won awards, including the National Book Award for them (1969), two O. Henry Awards, four Bram Stoker Awards, a World Fantasy Award, the National Humanities Medal, the Norman Mailer Prize for Lifetime Achievement, and the Stone Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement. Black Water (1992), What I Lived For (1994), Blonde (2000), and Lovely, Dark, Deep (2014) were Pulitzer Prize finalists, and her 1996 novel We Were the Mulvaneys was a New York Times bestseller. Under the pen names Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly, she published eleven psychological suspense novels, including Snake Eyes (1992), Double Delight (1997), and Starr Bright Will Be with You Soon (1999). While writing and publishing books, Oates taught at the University of Windsor in Canada from 1968 to 1978, and then moved to New Jersey, where she currently teaches in Princeton University’s creative writing program as the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities. She also teaches creative writing courses at New York University, Stanford University, and the University of California, Berkeley.
