Exclusive excerpt from BAD LIKE ME by Louise Griffin:
Rachel stumbled, almost on automatic pilot, back to the pumpkin carving station with the bag of fresh supplies she’d gone out to grab from her car. Sam wasn’t there, but Rachel couldn’t even worry about that now. There was no misinterpreting what she had just witnessed. Lucy, sitting in her husband’s car, for entirely too long. Her brain sputtered, thoughts jagged and clipped. Something was going on with them. Between them. Something private. On this day, of all days. Her day. The Fall Fair. Lucy and Elliot. Together. First, Rachel felt the prickle and sting of tears, like nettles. But quickly, she turned the tears into her own tempest. The rage blew through her, like a gale she had no control over, and before she really understood where she was going, she was on her way. She knew what she had to do. She walked out of the Fall Fair.
She found Lucy looking flustered, like she’d forgotten who she was and where she was supposed to be.
“Come with me,” Rachel snapped at her. “But the cider . . .” Lucy started.
“I have a different job for you. We’re running low on pumpkins. And I can’t find Sam. Come with me to get more from my car.”
Lucy’s feet remained planted in place. Rachel had to stop herself from grabbing hold of Lucy’s arm and jerking it hard.
“Now!”
That did it. The women walked quickly to Rachel’s car, parked down the block in a school bus loading zone. There were no pumpkins.
“Get in,” Rachel said
“What?” said Lucy, clearly confused. “Are we going to the store for more pumpkins? Rachel, are you okay? You don’t seem like yourself. Don’t we have jobs we should be doing back there? Don’t they need you?”
This was Rachel’s big day and Lucy had ruined it. Rachel couldn’t go back in there now. She could hardly bear to look at Lucy. She wanted to wring her neck.
Quickly, Rachel texted Harmony, Thanks for overseeing clean up. Owe you big time! Silent Retreat here I come!
“Lucy, you’re coming with me, for the girls’ weekend,” Rachel explained. “We’re leaving now.”
Lucy shook her head. “Excuse me? There must be some confusion, Rachel. I never said I would go. I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear on that earlier. But I can’t go. I’m not. Shouldn’t we get back to the Fair? Bee and Nathan will be wondering where I am. I’m sure you’re needed too.”
Lucy pulled out her phone and Rachel grabbed it. It was so clear, the line she had just crossed. She powered off Lucy’s phone. Lucy’s mouth hung open in shock.
“Lucy, come with me to my country house,” Rachel said, trying for a softer tone, wondering if she could uncross the line, even as she put Lucy’s phone in her own pocket. “Can’t you just say yes? I don’t want to say this next part. But, if you don’t come with me, I’ll tell Nathan and Grace about you and Sam. Right now. In front of everyone. Yes, I know all about you two. Okay? So get in the car. If we leave now the general store might still be open when we get to town. What’s a girls’ weekend without good wine and snacks, right?” She smiled brightly. At least she hoped she did.
Lucy looked around her. For a moment it seemed as if she would call for help. But then she looked back at Rachel and politeness won out. Rachel could see her rationalizing in her head— that perhaps she’d misunderstood, that she was being dramatic, that Rachel wouldn’t hurt her.
Lucy got in the car. “Can you please tell Nathan where I am? Where I’m going? He’ll be worried. I mean, I’m worried. This isn’t like you. You really don’t seem like yourself.”
You don’t know me, Rachel thought.
“Let’s just get there first,” Rachel said. “Then you can call him, okay?”
Exclusive excerpt from BAD LIKE ME by Louise Griffin. Copyright © 2026 by Thea Bloomberg and Kate Farrell
BAD LIKE ME by Louise Griffin
A propulsively told, multi‑POV domestic thriller exploring envy, desire, privilege, and parenthood, for fans of Lisa Jewell’s None of This Is True and Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies.
When Sam, the hottest dad in the neighborhood, is stabbed to death in a leafy local playground, no one in tony Larchwood can imagine who would want him dead. No one except the mom he snubbed, the dad he laughed at, the outsider he humiliated. Oh, and don’t forget his lover. Or his wife.
This page‑turning story is told by four women—each distinct, and not all reliable. There’s gorgeous Lucy, who’s ready to blow up her marriage; anxious Rachel, a classic overachiever; polished, powerhouse‑lawyer Grace, who’s deeply unhappy; and real estate agent Carmen, an outsider, who’d do anything to fit in. When one woman disappears from the neighborhood soon after the murder, and then another, fear takes hold in Larchwood.
Meanwhile, questions begin to arise about another suspicious death, one that took place years before. No one would think to link these events. No one except the killer …
Thriller Domestic [ Union Square & Co., On Sale: October 13, 2026, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781454969723 / ]
Buy BAD LIKE ME: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Books-A-Million | Indie BookShops | Walmart.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Louise Griffin
Louise Griffin is the pen name of sisters Thea Bloomberg and Kate Farrell. They both love reading thrillers and have always dreamed of writing a book together. Thea received her MFA in fiction writing from Columbia University, after which she worked for many years at a restaurant and coffee shop in Brooklyn. She now lives in Providence, RI, with her family. Kate was a salesperson, a bartender, and, briefly, a set decorator, before finding her way to book publishing, where she works as an editor. She lives in Brooklyn with her family. The sisters visit each other often and talk on the phone a lot. Bad Like Me is their first book together.
No Comments
Comments are closed.