Security
by Gina Wohlsdorf
The terrible truth about Manderley is that someone is always watching.
Manderley Resort is a gleaming, new twenty-story hotel on the California coast. It’s about to open its doors, and the world--at least those with the means to afford it--will be welcomed into a palace of opulence and unparalleled security. But someone is determined that Manderley will never open. The staff has no idea that their every move is being watched, and over the next twelve hours they will be killed off, one by one.
Writing in the tradition of Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King, and with a deep bow to Daphne du Maurier, author Gina Wohlsdorf pairs narrative ingenuity and razor-wire prose with quick twists, sharp turns, and gasp-inducing terror. Security is grand guignol storytelling at its very best.
A shocking thriller, a brilliant narrative puzzle, and a multifaceted love story unlike any other, Security marks the debut of a fearless and gifted writer.
Reviews
Amazon.com Review
An Amazon Best Book of June 2016: Thriller readers who enjoy being kept in the dark while the author slowly illuminates the serpentine path ahead will find themselves white-knuckling Wohlsdorf’s debut shocker. With its jump cuts between a killer prowling the luxurious hallways of the Manderley Resort and the staff who is putting the final polish on the hotel before its grand opening, Security makes you feel like you are watching the action from a distance—but readers will soon learn that it is a deliberate and ultimately brilliant narrative choice. Wohlsdorf pays homage to the genre’s greatest writers with nods to Daphne du Maurier and Stephen King, but the alchemy of the story’s suspense is all hers. Sometimes raw, sometimes gory, and always riveting, Security has a good chance at grabbing the title of Thriller of the Year. --Adrian Liang, The Amazon Book Review
“(A) stellar debut… As the Ducati-swift plot accelerates…it’s a testament to Wohlsdorf’s skill that she successfully negotiates the numerous tonal shifts between the unfolding Grand Guignol splatterfest and Tessa and Brian’s rekindling passion. Readers will gradually discover an even more emotionally affecting story as the action races to the moving climax.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“…a flawless literary refresh of giallo devices, completed with a masked-and-gloved killer; long, sharp knives; screaming, lingerie-clad victims; and twists aplenty – oh, get ready for the twists. Security is perfectly tuned for blockbuster status: scary, gory, kinky, and experimental enough to push readers’ envelopes without going so far as to lose mainstream appeal. They don’t make a hotel big enough to house all the people who will want to read this, and soon, as in Manderlay, all eyes will be on Wohlsdorf.” — Booklist, starred review
“This horror story with a humorous edge casts video surveillance as both hero and villain and raises plentiful goose bumps as a result.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Security isn’t your run-of-the mill thriller. Not by a long shot. Original and imaginative, the story is told in so clever a manner that it could almost obscure the story itself. . .were it not for Wohldoft’s gasp-inducing plot and fully engaging characters whom she develops without any sacrifice to the gripping suspense, the sheer terror, or the wrenching love story. When reading the last half of the book, I didn’t take a breath. I predict SECURITY will be this year’s THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN.” — Sandra Brown, author of Friction
"Be surprised, be very surprised: Gina Wohlsdorf brings more than just plot twists and a terrifically tender love story to this thriller about a disastrous opening for a luxury beach-front hotel. It's her playful homage to Hitchcock and du Maurier that had me reading, howling, and just plain loving this novel. I can't wait to read her next!” — Sara Gruen, author of At the Water’s Edge
“Film and literature have been each other’s trampolines for a long time, each providing a platform to launch the other, with each genre’s inherent benefits and limitations. So this is the novel that wouldn’t exist without film: an elaborated screenplay of a movie that exists only in our minds, with every advantage the written word has over the visual. This literary text shows its architecture, and is written in vivid and beautiful, nuanced language. It’s also shocking and filled with Tarantino-ish dark humor, along with the writer’s attentiveness toward constructed worlds and constructed identities, their limits and inevitabilities (The first Manderley – du Maurier’s -- also went up in flames). Structurally reminiscent of the amazing Jennifer Egan, Gina’s book is certainly a hybrid, like nothing else. Get ready.” — Ann Beattie, author of The State We’re In
“The thrill of this novel goes beyond its wickedly clever, split-screen, high-tech wizardry—a kind of video gamer's literary retake of Hitchcock's Rear Window—and emanates from its strange, disembodied narrator: a consciousness not just godlike in its ability to see every room on every floor, nor just helplessly voyeuristic, but a consciousness also moved by the bloody cat-and-mouse playing out before it to contemplate such mysteries as human vulnerability, desire, sex, security and—finally—love. The effect is terrifying, sexy, dizzying, and impossible to look away from.” — Tim Johnston, author of Descent
“Grand Hotel meets Psycho in the age of surveillance: Gina Wohlsdorf’s Security is cinematically vivid, crisply written, and sharp enough to cut. As the body count rises, the question becomes: Just who is telling this story? Lee Child fans, in particular, will be able to appreciate how brilliantly Wohlsdorf subverts our expectations of the action genre in this smart, shocking, poignant thriller.” — Emily Croy Barker, author of The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic
About the Author
Gina Wohlsdorf was born in Bismark, North Dakota, and graduated from Tulane University. In 2013 she earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of Virginia. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado. Security is her first novel.
Manderley Resort is a gleaming, new twenty-story hotel on the California coast. It’s about to open its doors, and the world--at least those with the means to afford it--will be welcomed into a palace of opulence and unparalleled security. But someone is determined that Manderley will never open. The staff has no idea that their every move is being watched, and over the next twelve hours they will be killed off, one by one.
Writing in the tradition of Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King, and with a deep bow to Daphne du Maurier, author Gina Wohlsdorf pairs narrative ingenuity and razor-wire prose with quick twists, sharp turns, and gasp-inducing terror. Security is grand guignol storytelling at its very best.
A shocking thriller, a brilliant narrative puzzle, and a multifaceted love story unlike any other, Security marks the debut of a fearless and gifted writer.
Reviews
Amazon.com Review
An Amazon Best Book of June 2016: Thriller readers who enjoy being kept in the dark while the author slowly illuminates the serpentine path ahead will find themselves white-knuckling Wohlsdorf’s debut shocker. With its jump cuts between a killer prowling the luxurious hallways of the Manderley Resort and the staff who is putting the final polish on the hotel before its grand opening, Security makes you feel like you are watching the action from a distance—but readers will soon learn that it is a deliberate and ultimately brilliant narrative choice. Wohlsdorf pays homage to the genre’s greatest writers with nods to Daphne du Maurier and Stephen King, but the alchemy of the story’s suspense is all hers. Sometimes raw, sometimes gory, and always riveting, Security has a good chance at grabbing the title of Thriller of the Year. --Adrian Liang, The Amazon Book Review
“(A) stellar debut… As the Ducati-swift plot accelerates…it’s a testament to Wohlsdorf’s skill that she successfully negotiates the numerous tonal shifts between the unfolding Grand Guignol splatterfest and Tessa and Brian’s rekindling passion. Readers will gradually discover an even more emotionally affecting story as the action races to the moving climax.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“…a flawless literary refresh of giallo devices, completed with a masked-and-gloved killer; long, sharp knives; screaming, lingerie-clad victims; and twists aplenty – oh, get ready for the twists. Security is perfectly tuned for blockbuster status: scary, gory, kinky, and experimental enough to push readers’ envelopes without going so far as to lose mainstream appeal. They don’t make a hotel big enough to house all the people who will want to read this, and soon, as in Manderlay, all eyes will be on Wohlsdorf.” — Booklist, starred review
“This horror story with a humorous edge casts video surveillance as both hero and villain and raises plentiful goose bumps as a result.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Security isn’t your run-of-the mill thriller. Not by a long shot. Original and imaginative, the story is told in so clever a manner that it could almost obscure the story itself. . .were it not for Wohldoft’s gasp-inducing plot and fully engaging characters whom she develops without any sacrifice to the gripping suspense, the sheer terror, or the wrenching love story. When reading the last half of the book, I didn’t take a breath. I predict SECURITY will be this year’s THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN.” — Sandra Brown, author of Friction
"Be surprised, be very surprised: Gina Wohlsdorf brings more than just plot twists and a terrifically tender love story to this thriller about a disastrous opening for a luxury beach-front hotel. It's her playful homage to Hitchcock and du Maurier that had me reading, howling, and just plain loving this novel. I can't wait to read her next!” — Sara Gruen, author of At the Water’s Edge
“Film and literature have been each other’s trampolines for a long time, each providing a platform to launch the other, with each genre’s inherent benefits and limitations. So this is the novel that wouldn’t exist without film: an elaborated screenplay of a movie that exists only in our minds, with every advantage the written word has over the visual. This literary text shows its architecture, and is written in vivid and beautiful, nuanced language. It’s also shocking and filled with Tarantino-ish dark humor, along with the writer’s attentiveness toward constructed worlds and constructed identities, their limits and inevitabilities (The first Manderley – du Maurier’s -- also went up in flames). Structurally reminiscent of the amazing Jennifer Egan, Gina’s book is certainly a hybrid, like nothing else. Get ready.” — Ann Beattie, author of The State We’re In
“The thrill of this novel goes beyond its wickedly clever, split-screen, high-tech wizardry—a kind of video gamer's literary retake of Hitchcock's Rear Window—and emanates from its strange, disembodied narrator: a consciousness not just godlike in its ability to see every room on every floor, nor just helplessly voyeuristic, but a consciousness also moved by the bloody cat-and-mouse playing out before it to contemplate such mysteries as human vulnerability, desire, sex, security and—finally—love. The effect is terrifying, sexy, dizzying, and impossible to look away from.” — Tim Johnston, author of Descent
“Grand Hotel meets Psycho in the age of surveillance: Gina Wohlsdorf’s Security is cinematically vivid, crisply written, and sharp enough to cut. As the body count rises, the question becomes: Just who is telling this story? Lee Child fans, in particular, will be able to appreciate how brilliantly Wohlsdorf subverts our expectations of the action genre in this smart, shocking, poignant thriller.” — Emily Croy Barker, author of The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic
About the Author
Gina Wohlsdorf was born in Bismark, North Dakota, and graduated from Tulane University. In 2013 she earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of Virginia. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado. Security is her first novel.