Publishers Weekly
02/21/2022
Rigetti (the memoir Whistleblower, as Susan Fowler) makes her fiction debut with a cinematic if implausible caper. Lora Ricci has pulled herself up by the bootstraps from a working-class Pennsylvania childhood through community college to NYU and a summer internship at Elle magazine. But unbeknownst to her parents and her fellow interns, Lora’s practically flunking out of college and has lost her scholarship. So when Cat, a charismatic and glamorous contributing editor, spots Lora’s writing talent and offers her a job as ghostwriter for stories sure to earn Cat “literary fame and fortune,” Lora jumps at the opportunity to escape her troubles. And she escapes them in style, moving in to Cat’s apartment at the Plaza Hotel and ordering room service daily. If the details about Cat’s life don’t quite add up (how can Cat afford the Plaza suite on a meager part-time salary?), Lora’s more than happy to look the other way—until she’s forced to realize that she’s been played. Rigetti’s propulsive narrative, which includes Instagram posts, text messages, and FBI case files, keeps the pages turning, and there’s a juicy twist. Lora’s character, however, is underdeveloped, and it’s mystifying whether she’s willfully clueless or simply naive. The overall success of this depends on whether readers are as adept at Lora at suspending disbelief. Agent: Liz Parker, Verve. (Apr.)
From the Publisher
It’s Catch Me if You Can meets Sweetbitter, from the woman who blew the whistle on Uber’s software engineering team—what’s not to love?” — Entertainment Weekly
“[A] page-turner that’s hilarious in its dedication to vamping on viral news stories about real-life strivers and cons from Delvey to Instagram personality Caroline Calloway … a delicious read.” — TIME magazine
“Taking inspiration from the Anna Delveys of the world, Cover Story is a delicious read about a young intern who gets caught up in a breathtakingly opulent—if claustrophobic—scheme (or four).” — Marie Claire
“Rigetti's fiction debut has a roller-coaster plot that gives off huge Anna Delvey vibes and an ending that will leave you with your jaw on the floor…. If you're a fan of tales about scams, grifters, and mysterious schemes, Cover Story needs to be on your TBR list.” — Popsugar
“Cover Story is a good read … man oh man, it’s got suites at the Plaza, the FBI closing in, Russian hackers, designer clothes and a plot that stays ahead of the reader. Rigetti has written a need-to-read story.” — San Francisco Chronicle
“[A] ridiculously fun romp.” — E! Online
“A clever epistolary novel with an elegant con woman at its center—in other words, perfect escapism for this moment.” — Seattle Times
“[C]inematic…Rigetti’s propulsive narrative, which includes Instagram posts, text messages, and FBI case files, keeps the pages turning, and there’s a juicy twist.” — Publishers Weekly
“Inspired by the stories of Anna Sorokin, Caroline Calloway, and others, Cover Story is a captivating novel that readers won’t be able to put down.” — Shondaland
“Journalist Rigetti's debut kicks off beach-read season with a bang…. Drawing heavy inspiration from the true story of Anna Delvey, who conned New York's elite for several years in the mid-2010s, this book will be a must-read for the legions who followed Delvey's story with bated breath.… It’s The Devil Wear’s Prada meets Gone Girl, and it’s delightful.” — Booklist (starred review)
“[E]ntertaining…clever, fast-paced…the crafty Rigetti makes fraud a lot of fun. An entertaining shell game of a novel.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Cover Story by Susan Rigetti is an unforgettable tale of scams and double-crosses told through emails, diary entries, and FBI correspondence.” — Popsugar
“I just loved Susan Rigetti's Cover Story, which is an insightful, tense story that's exactly what you want from a twisty thriller about a hustler (think Anna Delvey) who isn't what she appears.” — Linda Holmes, New York Times bestselling author of Evie Drake Starts Over
“This juicy tale of stolen identities and ever-increasing fraud, set against a tony Manhattan backdrop, is told entirely through original documents—Instagram posts, FBI transcripts—that place the reader in the role of detective. But even self-styled Poirots won't see what's coming: the book ended with a wallop that made me literally gasp—and admire debut author Susan Rigetti's sure-handed, inventive page-turner all the more.” — Stephanie Clifford, New York Times bestselling author of Everybody Rise
"The grifter gets a glow up in Susan Rigetti’s crafty caper. Devilish, innovative, and lightning-paced, Cover Story is like an internet rabbit hole you can hold in your hands. What fun!" — Lauren Mechling, author of How Could She
“Cover Story is pure delight from its deceptively sweet start to its shocking finish—an ingénue tale unlike any I've read before. I audibly gasped at the end. Unpredictable, satisfying, and full of surprises." — Mary Adkins, author of Palm Beach
“A cleverly constructed caper which beneath its charming exterior keenly examines grifter culture, the power dynamics of friendship, and the allure of the American dream. A deeply satisfying read which perfectly reflects today’s society.” — Kathy Wang, author of Impostor Syndrome
“Every con woman needs a mark, and Susan Rigetti's clever telling of the friendship between sweet, naïve, ambitious Lora and the probably sociopathic Cat Wolff is a con woman/mark relationship for the ages. Cat may have seduced Lora, but Cover Story seduced me.” — Doree Shafrir, author of Thanks for Waiting and Startup
“A breathless ride through a New York City of starving writers, glamorous con women, fashion magazines, and luxury hotels, Cover Story is irresistible and impossible to put down, a fast-paced tale of what we are willing to risk to make our dreams come true.” — Iris Martin Cohen, author of The Little Clan
"Wow, I have to untangle my brain after reading this book! Rigetti's debut novel is compulsively readable and FUN. Well-crafted and irresistible, this caper will have readers gasping!" — Elissa R. Sloan, author of The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes
Booklist (starred review)
Journalist Rigetti's debut kicks off beach-read season with a bang…. Drawing heavy inspiration from the true story of Anna Delvey, who conned New York's elite for several years in the mid-2010s, this book will be a must-read for the legions who followed Delvey's story with bated breath.… It’s The Devil Wear’s Prada meets Gone Girl, and it’s delightful.
San Francisco Chronicle
Cover Story is a good read … man oh man, it’s got suites at the Plaza, the FBI closing in, Russian hackers, designer clothes and a plot that stays ahead of the reader. Rigetti has written a need-to-read story.”
E! Online
[A] ridiculously fun romp.
Time magazine
[A] page-turner that’s hilarious in its dedication to vamping on viral news stories about real-life strivers and cons from Delvey to Instagram personality Caroline Calloway … a delicious read.
Shondaland
Inspired by the stories of Anna Sorokin, Caroline Calloway, and others, Cover Story is a captivating novel that readers won’t be able to put down.”
Entertainment Weekly
"It's Catch Me if You Can meets Sweetbitter, from the woman who blew the whistle on Uber's software engineering team — what's not to love?
Marie Claire
Taking inspiration from the Anna Delveys of the world, ‘Cover Story’ is a delicious read about a young intern who gets caught up in a breathtakingly opulent—if claustrophobic—scheme (or four).
Seattle Times
A clever epistolary novel with an elegant con woman at its center—in other words, perfect escapism for this moment.
Popsugar
Rigetti's fiction debut has a roller-coaster plot that gives off huge Anna Delvey vibes and an ending that will leave you with your jaw on the floor…. If you're a fan of tales about scams, grifters, and mysterious schemes, Cover Story needs to be on your TBR list.
Stephanie Clifford
This juicy tale of stolen identities and ever-increasing fraud, set against a tony Manhattan backdrop, is told entirely through original documents—Instagram posts, FBI transcripts—that place the reader in the role of detective. But even self-styled Poirots won't see what's coming: the book ended with a wallop that made me literally gasp—and admire debut author Susan Rigetti's sure-handed, inventive page-turner all the more.
Lauren Mechling
"The grifter gets a glow up in Susan Rigetti’s crafty caper. Devilish, innovative, and lightning-paced, Cover Story is like an internet rabbit hole you can hold in your hands. What fun!"
Elissa R. Sloan
"Wow, I have to untangle my brain after reading this book! Rigetti's debut novel is compulsively readable and FUN. Well-crafted and irresistible, this caper will have readers gasping!"
Kathy Wang
A cleverly constructed caper which beneath its charming exterior keenly examines grifter culture, the power dynamics of friendship, and the allure of the American dream. A deeply satisfying read which perfectly reflects today’s society.
Doree Shafrir
Every con woman needs a mark, and Susan Rigetti's clever telling of the friendship between sweet, naïve, ambitious Lora and the probably sociopathic Cat Wolff is a con woman/mark relationship for the ages. Cat may have seduced Lora, but Cover Story seduced me.
Mary Adkins
Cover Story is pure delight from its deceptively sweet start to its shocking finish—an ingénue tale unlike any I've read before. I audibly gasped at the end. Unpredictable, satisfying, and full of surprises."
Iris Martin Cohen
A breathless ride through a New York City of starving writers, glamorous con women, fashion magazines, and luxury hotels, Cover Story is irresistible and impossible to put down, a fast-paced tale of what we are willing to risk to make our dreams come true.
Library Journal
11/01/2021
As Susan Fowler, Rigetti authored the acclaimed memoir Whistleblower and was subsequently named 2017 Time Person of the Year as one of "The Silence Breakers" whose actions helped launch #MeToo. Here she turns to fiction with the story of an aspiring young writer ensnared by someone who at first looks to be a mentor. During a summer internship at ELLE, struggling NYU student Lora Ricci meets the charismatic Cat Wolff, who persuades her to drop out of school and work as her ghostwriter. Lora is at first dazzled by Cat's glamorous lifestyle, but eventually Cat's shady side emerges. With a 50,000-copy first printing.
Kirkus Reviews
2022-01-26
An unsophisticated intern at a fashion magazine fears her new, wealthy mentor may be a con artist.
Rigetti’s entertaining first novel lays out how easily a grifter can take advantage of the system—and the naïve. And no one seems to be a better target for a con artist than unsophisticated would-be writer Lora Ricci from Allentown, Pennsylvania. Lora has just started an internship at glamorous Elle magazine in Manhattan, but she feels overwhelmed. She has failed her courses at NYU and is hiding her lost scholarship from her parents, and she knows she’s at a disadvantage compared to the other trust fund–fueled interns around her. Then she meets charismatic contributing editor Cat Wolff, heiress to an Austrian billionaire’s fortune, who offers her an opportunity that seems too good to be true. She invites Lora to move into her huge suite at the Plaza Hotel so that Lora can ghostwrite short stories for her, a plan that will surely catapult them to a lucrative literary contract. A savvier writer might balk at such a ridiculous suggestion—trying to climb the literary ladder is hardly the best way to access instant wealth—but the plan sounds plausible to the increasingly desperate Lora, who doesn’t know what to do when her internship ends. Meanwhile, readers know something that Lora does not: Rigetti reveals from the start of this clever, fast-paced book that Cat is not all that she seems. The novel’s opening pages consist of an FBI transcript, and Rigetti tells the story using a variety of ephemera—journal entries, Instagram posts, texts—to heighten the mystery as Lora begins to question Cat’s motives and actions. This isn’t a book to take too seriously, but the crafty Rigetti makes fraud a lot of fun.
An entertaining shell game of a novel.
