Review of The Zig Zag Girl
- jodiwebb9
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
I couldn't resist the title Zigzag Girl. Learn more about the book today and more about what exactly "zigzag girl" means in the interview of author Ruth Knafo Setton in the interview on Thursday. Plus a giveaway! Now, back to the review.
More About Zigzag Girl
Zigzag Girl, by Ruth Knafo Setton, is a twisty contemporary mystery with a touch of magic, set in Atlantic City and the eerie New Jersey Pine Barrens. Lucy Moon, a brilliant young magician with a mysterious past, works in the town’s theatre, staging performances of enchantment and conjure. But one night, during the ‘Sawing a Woman in Half’ trick, Lucy discovers her friend’s body in the box, dead. As Lucy digs deeper, she uncovers a trail of murders and suspects. With the help of a fierce group of female magicians and mystics, she must expose the truth before she becomes the final act.
More About Ruth Knafo Setton
Born in Morocco and raised in the Lehigh Valley, Ruth Knafo Setton is the author of the novel, The Road to Fez (Counterpoint Press). Her honors include awards and fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts, PEN, CineStory, Nimrod, Cutthroat, Writer’s Digest, and residencies at Hedgebrook, Yaddo, MacDowell, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She is a multi-genre author whose fiction, creative nonfiction, screenplays, and poetry have won many awards and appeared in journals and anthologies. A former Fiction Editor of Arts & Letters, she has taught Creative Writing and Multicultural Literature at Lehigh University and on Semester at Sea.
Catch Up with Our Author
Instagram: @RuthSetton
Threads: @RuthSetton
X: @RuthSetton
Facebook: @ruth.setton
Thoughts About Zigzag Girl
Zigzag Girl starts out like every mystery from the beginning of time - someone dies and some decides to figure out who the murderer is. But author Ruth Knafo Setton is the master of literary misdirection, revealing a tidbit from someone's past here and a peek at someone's character there until your head is spinning. Are these details related to the murder or just...details? How are all these characters and generations related - or aren't they?
This book made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It wasn't just creepy characters and the shifty things they did and said (although there was plenty of that). The behind the scenes, only for locals setting on Atlantic City became a memorable additional character, immersing readers in this unusual world and reflecting the emotions of the people. The descriptions of AC past and present were so key that you will be convinced that this story could not have taken place anywhere else in the world.
A standing ovation to Setton for revealing this story piece by piece -- always holding back an unexpected twist -- just like a magic trick. It kept me guessing until the very end.
Ready to Read
Wow, excellent review! I love when books can give you that feeling! I'm so glad you loved this one!