Ill Will: A Novel
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Two sensational unsolved crimes—one in the past, another in the present—are linked by one man’s memory and self-deception in this “haunting [and] strikingly original” (The New York Times Book Review) novel of literary suspense from National Book Award finalist Dan Chaon.
“Ingenious . . . [Ill Will] walks along a garrote stretched taut between Edgar Allan Poe and Alfred Hitchcock.”—The Washington Post
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The Wall Street Journal, NPR, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly
“We are always telling a story to ourselves, about ourselves.” This is one of the little mantras Dustin Tillman likes to share with his patients, and it’s meant to be reassuring. But what if that story is a lie?
A psychologist in suburban Cleveland, Dustin is drifting through his forties when he hears the news: His adopted brother, Rusty, is being released from prison. Thirty years ago, Rusty received a life sentence for the massacre of Dustin’s parents, aunt, and uncle. Now, after DNA analysis has overturned the conviction, Dustin braces for a reckoning.
Meanwhile, one of Dustin’s patients has been plying him with stories of the drowning deaths of a string of drunk college boys. At first Dustin dismisses the talk of a serial killer as paranoid thinking, but as the two embark on an amateur investigation, Dustin starts to believe that there’s more to the deaths than coincidence. Soon he becomes obsessed, crossing all professional boundaries—and putting his own family in harm’s way.
Includes an exclusive conversation between Dan Chaon and Lynda Barry
“Ingenious . . . [Ill Will] walks along a garrote stretched taut between Edgar Allan Poe and Alfred Hitchcock.”—The Washington Post
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The Wall Street Journal, NPR, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly
“We are always telling a story to ourselves, about ourselves.” This is one of the little mantras Dustin Tillman likes to share with his patients, and it’s meant to be reassuring. But what if that story is a lie?
A psychologist in suburban Cleveland, Dustin is drifting through his forties when he hears the news: His adopted brother, Rusty, is being released from prison. Thirty years ago, Rusty received a life sentence for the massacre of Dustin’s parents, aunt, and uncle. Now, after DNA analysis has overturned the conviction, Dustin braces for a reckoning.
Meanwhile, one of Dustin’s patients has been plying him with stories of the drowning deaths of a string of drunk college boys. At first Dustin dismisses the talk of a serial killer as paranoid thinking, but as the two embark on an amateur investigation, Dustin starts to believe that there’s more to the deaths than coincidence. Soon he becomes obsessed, crossing all professional boundaries—and putting his own family in harm’s way.
Includes an exclusive conversation between Dan Chaon and Lynda Barry
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Community Reviews
This book grabbed me on page one and never let go. It’s the story of Dustin, who grows up to be a married psychologist with two sons. He gets a phone call from his cousin Kate in the opening pages letting him know that his adopted brother Russel, Rusty for short, has been released from prison thanks to new DNA evidence and the Innocence Project. After 29 years in prison, it turns out Rusty did not kill Dustin’s parents, aunt, and uncle while his cousins Kate and Wave slept in the camper outside the house before their trip to Yellowstone.
At the same time Rusty is released, teen jocks are turning up dead in rivers after getting drunk in bars. The police find the deaths to be the likely result of binge drinking. One of Dustin’s patients, Aqil, theorizes that a Satanic cult serial killer is on the loose and enlists Dustin’s help. Aquil, a former cop, specifically chooses Dustin to help find the killer under the guise of needing smoking cessation therapy. Aqil feels Dustin will understand cult killings since Rusty was imprisoned based on testimony from Dustin and his cousin that Rusty was into Satanic cult rituals.
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