I received this book for free from the Publisher, Spotify Premium in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Zetas Till We Die by Amber and Danielle Brown Published by Graydon House on September 10, 2024
Genres: Fiction / Thrillers / Crime, Fiction / Thrillers / Psychological, Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense, Fiction / Women
Pages: 400
Format: Audiobook, eBook
Source: Publisher, Spotify Premium
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“The Browns deliver their trademark mix of steamy sex and social commentary in an easy-to-binge package. This is bound to please fans of Shonda Rhimes.” —Publishers Weekly on Perfect Little Lives
SISTERS…FOR LIFE.
It’s been ten years since Priscilla and her Zeta Phi Zeta sorority sisters graduated college. Ten years since they were all in the same room together. Ten years since one of them died. And now Lupe’s killer has been released from prison on a technicality, days before their ten-year reunion.
Priscilla decides that the party must go on; Lupe would have wanted it to. And besides, an epic reunion bash might be the perfect distraction. Back together, the Zetas party like it’s 2012, and it’s wild, just the way it used to be. Maybe too wild. At least everyone makes it out alive this time…or so they think.
When one of them doesn’t return home after the party, Priscilla begins to realize that there might be more to Lupe’s murder and that someone is out for blood. With the murderer in their midst circling closer and closer, the Zetas are forced to confront what really happened the night Lupe died—and the secrets each of them swore to keep.
Sorority sisters can be friends for life… But in ZETAS TILL WE DIE, the end of their lives comes much sooner than they thought it would. Here’s an excerpt from Amber and Danielle Brown’s latest book, and stick around for my review after.
TRANSCRIPT OF JURY TRIAL—DAY 16
Conducted on May 20, 2015
Case: California v. Wolfe
DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Can you please remind the jury what you saw the night of May 7, 2012, as you returned home?
PRISCILLA: I was just getting home. Walking into the house and I saw him. Travis. His shirt was covered in her blood. Like soaked all the way through. At first I couldn’t tell what it was. It was dark. But when he got closer, I could tell it was blood. There was some on the tops of his pants too. He didn’t run or anything when he saw me. He just stared at me and then took off. I didn’t see him after that. I ran in to see what happened, where the blood was… Sorry. This is my first time seeing him again…after… Can I have some water, please?
DEFENSE ATTORNEY: And what did you see when you entered the house?
PRISCILLA: I remember…blood. Just a lot of blood. That’s all I could see at first. Just so much blood. I froze… I just…couldn’t believe it was Lupé…lying there like that. She wasn’t moving, her neck was… The way it was twisted, I could barely look. My mind was racing so fast. Everything just slowed down. I was there but not there.
DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Understandable. Now, is it fair to say you may be misremembering some details due to your state of shock?
PRISCILLA: No. Not at all. I know what I saw. He came from inside the house covered in Lupé’s blood. I saw what I saw.
DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Tell me what else you saw as you walked into the house. Was anyone else present?
PRISCILLA: Dionne and Alexis first. They were at the bottom of the stairs, kneeling down at Lupé’s side, trying to get her to breathe, to wake up, something. Zoë and Chanel were also there. Somewhere. Someone was on the phone with the police. I think it was her.
DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Were they also covered in blood?
PRISCILLA: They took turns trying to give her CPR. They all had touched her by the time I got there.
DEFENSE ATTORNEY: And you never saw Mr. Wolfe physically harm Lupé that night, correct?
PRISCILLA: No, but he was the only one who just left when I showed up. Everyone else tried to save her. Tried to do something. Why would he run away if he didn’t do it?
DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Based on the little you actually saw, it could have been anyone else who was present when you arrived who pushed her down the stairs. Is that fair to say?
PRISCILLA: No one else had any reason to kill Lupé.
DEFENSE ATTORNEY: What makes you so certain? Had you ever witnessed Mr. Wolfe threaten Lupé before?
PRISCILLA: No. But Travis—sorry, Mr. Wolfe—was constantly stalking her. I was worried for her. This guy always seemed to be around her and none of us knew anything about him or why he was so obsessed.
DEFENSE ATTORNEY: And when you say none of “us,” who exactly are you referring to?
PRISCILLA: My sorority sisters. Her best friends. Me, Chanel, Zoë, Alexis, Dionne and Val.
DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That night, were the doors locked?
PRISCILLA: We always lock the doors after eleven.
DEFENSE ATTORNEY: So there was no way Travis could have entered the premises on his own? If the doors were locked?
PRISCILLA: We figured he broke in through her window. He was always staring up at her room like he was trying to figure out a way to get into it.
DEFENSE ATTORNEY: And if he was there that night—
PRISCILLA: He was there.
DEFENSE ATTORNEY: If he was there that night, someone could have let him in, right? That is possible, correct?
PRISCILLA: Lupé would have never let him in. None of us would have. We were all worried for her.
DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Lupé’s bedroom was on the second floor, was it not?
PRISCILLA: Yes, but—
DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It would have been nearly impossible for him to scale the building and break in through the window without anyone hearing or seeing anything, right?
PRISCILLA: I…
DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No further questions, Your Honor.
Excerpted from ZETAS TILL WE DIE by Amber Brown and Danielle Brown, Copyright © 2024 by Amber Brown and Danielle Brown. Published by arrangement with HTP Books, a Division of HarperCollins.
My Thoughts:
I had a work trip where I drove 10 hours in one day this week, so I spent my time diving into the lurid world of ZETAS TILL WE DIE by sisters/authors Amber and Danielle Brown. I enjoyed their last novel PERFECT LITTLE LIES, so I was eager to jump into this dark thriller/psychological suspense/mystery. Spotify Premium was where I listened to the audiobook.
It’s been ten years since the sisters of the Zeta Phi Zeta sorority graduated college and moved on from living under one roof in Northern California—the very roof where one of their sisters was murdered right before graduation. Now Lupe’s convicted killer has been released from jail much too early, and he’s free when there’s the chance to ruin the first time the sorority sisters will finally be back under one roof for a girls’ night. The former president of the group, Priscilla, is set on having a reunion get-together no matter what. But their hard-partying ways resurface from the past and bring danger into their midst once more, and they start to fall one by one over the next few weeks…
One of the sisters, Zoe, never makes it home after the party, and piece by piece Priscilla starts to put things together: maybe Lupe’s murder is more complicated than it seems, and just how well does she know her sisters and those closest to her?
Told in Priscilla’s points of view in the present and 10 years earlier along with Lupe’s side in the past, you get a decent look at the main players and how they’ve changed or stayed the same over the years. There are also passages of transcripts from the murder trial that add quite a bit of mystery to the story. Priscilla is a very human, complex, and realistic character. She has a happy marriage, a career that she is very invested in and enjoys, and good friendships with the two sisters that she stayed close to over the years. I did like how her marital problems intertwined with the overall mystery, so time spent on that didn’t feel wasted.
My biggest complaint about this mystery was how easy it was to spot who the ultimate culprit was pretty early on in the book. A big deal was also made out of Priscilla’s luxurious house having so many security cameras, yet no one bothered to look at the feeds for the night of the reunion–not Priscilla, not her husband, and certainly not the police who came to investigate Zoe’s disappearance. I feel like this is one of the first things the cops would do, along with pulling any neighboring camera feeds for the street where any of the girls’ cars were parked. It’s just not realistic these days for a novel that is pretty innovative and realistic in how Priscilla does her own investigating.
I give ZETAS TILL WE DIE a 3.5 out of 5. Priscilla and Lupe are pretty fleshed out, but the other sorority sisters that aren’t as close to Priscilla aren’t as three-dimensional and the impact of them being targeted fell a bit flat in the last half of the book. In the end, I did enjoy listening to the audiobook. The tension ramps up as Priscilla grows more frantic and desperate when danger grows very close. The last quarter is a full thriller, and the frenzied nature makes the ending seem rushed just because of the action. Covering lifelong friendships, friendships based on proximity, marital problems of all kinds, loyalty, and the hurts of the past sticking around and rearing their ugly heads in the present, Amber and Danielle Brown wrote another enjoyable read (or listen), giving us a peak at some very complicated lives of rich people that are still bound together.
Find ZETAS TILL WE DIE
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About Amber and Danielle Brown
Amber and Danielle Brown both graduated from Rider University where they studied Communications/Journalism and sat on the editorial staff for the On Fire!! literary journal. They then pursued a career in fashion and spent five years in NYC working their way up, eventually managing their own popular fashion and lifestyle blog. Amber is also a screenwriter, so they live in LA, which works out perfectly so Danielle can spoil her plant babies with copious amounts of sunshine.
Find Amber and Danielle Brown
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