The Influencers

In YA author McLemore’s uneven adult debut (after Flawless Girls), a successful influencer becomes embroiled in scandal when her husband is murdered and her home set afire, most likely to conceal the evidence. The question of who murdered August Iverson drives much of the narrative, which is told from multiple perspectives, including those of momfluencer May, her fans, her five daughters, and a mysterious man known throughout most of the novel as Luke Sweatshirt. May, for her part, is focused on remaining connected to her audience (“The first rule of weathering a scandal was to carry on, business as usual,” McLemore writes), and as she continues to post, the Iversons reveal themselves to be just as sinister as they are glamorous, especially after the disappearance of May’s second daughter, March. McLemore thoroughly skewers influencer culture, revealing the resentments and tensions simmering beneath a picture-perfect veneer. Unfortunately, the characters are a bit too cartoonishly drawn, and despite a juicy premise, the pace is far too plodding. There’s not enough here to hold the reader’s interest. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel, Goderich,& Bourrett. (Apr.)