November 30, 2020
Ex-grifter Nora O’Malley, who’s 18 and bisexual, finds herself in an uncomfortable situation after her ex-boyfriend Wes walks in on her kissing their mutual friend and her girlfriend, Iris. Before the three can work things out, they’re taken hostage during a bank robbery in their small California town—and there’s no guarantee they’ll make it out alive. In order to save Wes and Iris, Nora must confront and make use of a past she’s tried to leave behind. The first-person narrative gracefully shifts between Nora’s childhood as her con artist mother’s apprentice and the present, a structure that reinforces how inextricably the two are intertwined. Nora is a survivor of domestic, psychological, and sexual abuse, and was forced by her mother to adopt multiple identities, leaving her relationship with herself unsteady, and Sharpe (Barbed Wire Heart) focuses as much on her trauma—and the systems of power that enable and excuse abuse—as on mystery and heart-pounding action. Pacing is off in the book’s final act, somewhat undermining an otherwise affecting conclusion, but the small, complex cast of characters and emotional core make this a poignant thriller. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.

December 1, 2020

Gr 9 Up-Until she was 12 years old, Nora, who is white, had many names. Each came with a unique personality designed to help her mother complete the con she ran with the men she targeted. Beautiful and blonde, athletic with dark braids, and other appearances, each girl served a purpose to pull the most money out of the game. The last con ended when her mother fell in love with a man who knew the game far better than she, leading to a disastrous confrontation that sends him and Nora's mother to prison. Rescued by her older sister, Lee, who escaped the same family dynamic, Nora is helped by therapy, her white best friend Wes, and her new love, freckled brunette Iris. Also children of abuse, they help her to regain a sense of who she really is. All of this is threatened, however, when one day they happen to be in a bank as a robbery unfolds. This action-packed story sizzles with suspense as Nora quickly grasps that this is a situation she not only understands, but all that she has learned until now can work in her favor. She is going to run a daring con to facilitate their escape. Told in alternating chapters as the bank con unfolds, readers meet each of the girls that Nora became, the results of their cons and how each shapes her, giving her the skills she uses now to escape. But Nora can't do this alone. VERDICT In this thriller, characters prove that they can rely on their strength, friendship, and desire to be the confident and caring people they know themselves to be.-Connie Williams, Petaluma, CA

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Starred review from December 1, 2020
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* For the last five years, Nora O'Malley has lived with her sister, Lee, cobbling together a normal life. Her biggest problem now is how to apologize to Wes, her best friend and ex-boyfriend, for hiding the fact that she and their mutual friend, Iris, are a couple. When the three of them meet at the bank for an errand after Wes walks in on Nora and Iris, Nora's braced for an awkward scene, not a violent one--but life-or-death is exactly what she gets when two men initiate an out-of-control bank robbery. But five years ago? Nora wasn't Nora--she was a string of different girls, raised to help her mom con shady criminal businessmen; Nora has spent years recovering from the traumas those girls both endured and inflicted. She'll need every bit of cunning she learned from them if she's going to get Iris and Wes out of this bank alive--even if it means showing the girl she's beginning to love her darkest self. Sharpe (Far from You, 2014) puzzles together an arrestingly incisive narrative that darts between the past and present. With breathtaking precision, she tracks each moment Nora spends in the bank, while also layering in piecemeal the moments from her past, tinged with pain and resilience, that made her who she is. Fiercely captivating and impressively characterized, this tightly plotted thriller is engrossing from start to finish.

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Starred review from December 15, 2020
When three friends find themselves in a hostage situation, they must share their biggest secrets in order to survive. Beginning at age 7, Nora (not her real name) molded herself into the perfect daughter personas her mother created for each of her high-stakes sweetheart cons. Each false identity taught her something new: creativity, deceit, fear, sacrifice, cunning. It's been 5 years (and many therapy sessions) since her half sister, Lee (not her real name, either), helped her escape their mom's toxic clutches, but at 17, Nora still can't quite settle into normal civilian life. So when she's taken hostage in an attempted bank robbery alongside her girlfriend, Iris, and her ex-boyfriend, Wes, who is also friends with Iris, she instinctively conjures up the girls she's been to get them all out alive. Bracketed by present-day phone transcripts, Nora's whip-smart, matter-of-fact narration unfolds in intricate, nonlinear layers to reveal just enough of her past for readers to understand exactly what she's capable of and what she's planning now. Though Nora's past drives the plot, her relationship with Iris dramatically shapes the present. Nora is openly and confidently bisexual, and while Lee's sexuality is ambiguous, she's also had a significant same-sex relationship. All major characters are presumed White. A captivating, explosive, and satisfyingly queer thriller. (Thriller. 13-18)

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