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AudioBook information:
Author: Justine Larbalestier, Scott Westerfeld
Narrated by: Adina Verson, Justine Larbalestier, Scott Westerfeld
Release date: July 21, 2026
Audiobook Duration: 13 h 22 min
Summary: “Slippery, sinister, and so much fun.” —Charlotte McConaghy, New York Times bestselling author of Wild Dark Shore
Meet the Mortons: In this family, murder is currency—and business is booming.
The Mortons are a modern-day, old-money dynasty with impeccable taste, from their exquisitely crafted cocktails to their expertly tailored vintage garments. They are also stone-cold killers. For the Mortons, homicide is heritage.
They, along with the other crime families, send their progeny to Helshire College, where legacy students learn to exercise control over their wealthy peers. Jessica Morton has always excelled at Helshire, secure in the knowledge that she is the prodigy of her generation. Now, having committed her first kill, it should be Jessica’s moment, her honor. But that kill will cut more ways than one, unknotting a series of revelations spanning the Mortons’ country estate, the New York City art world, and Helshire itself.
Sharp and hypnotic, The Mortons is an epic novel of alliances and power, loyalty and kinship, and the consequences of ruthless ambition.
Reviews:
Advance praise for The Mortons:
“Slippery, sinister, and so much fun.”
—Charlotte McConaghy, New York Times bestselling author of Wild Dark Shore
“Stunningly original and fiendishly good. The Mortons left me reeling. A masterclass in moral ambiguity and shocking twists.”
—Sarah Pekkanen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Locked Ward
“The Mortons is a tour de force: witty, thrilling, and deliciously cruel. Enjoy it with a stiff cocktail.”
—Lev Grossman, New York Times bestselling author of The Magicians trilogy
“A page-turning tale about an “Old Money” family. . . a bracing and searching story about the lengths a child will go to make their family proud. Readers won’t want to put this down.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Jessica Morton is the daughter of an ancient and powerful family, in competition with her cousins to run their criminal empire. Each generation attends a private boarding school with a shadow curriculum, in which the cousins learn the art of creative accounting, subtle influence, and bold assassination; each generation accepts that they may be culled before they begin to live, for this is their family’s way. But something is changing, has already changed—Jessica’s generation is far too small, her family seems desperate, and a rebellion may be brewing. Once you start reading this one, you won’t be able to stop! Just as the Morton family planned…”
—CrimeReads
“The Mortons are the most spectacularly unhinged crime family ever imagined. Their story hurtled along so fast and surprised me so often I was shocked to realize I’d been contemplating and recalibrating my moral compass as I read. An absolute delight.”
—E. Lockhart, #1 New York Times bestselling author of We Were Liars
“Lush and darkly funny, The Mortons is a moreish, enveloping crime epic.”
—Flynn Berry, New York Times bestselling author of Trust Her
“Diabolical and delicious, the world of the Mortons—a murderous family dynasty—is as real and tangible as the one we inhabit. So much so that I’m not entirely sure they aren’t out there, scheming, culling and blooding their brood, one at a time. Watch your back. Utterly delightful and disturbing.”
—Julie Clark, New York Times bestselling author of The Ghostwriter
“Succession meets The Secret History. Contemporary dark academia at its best.”
—Will Dean, international bestselling author of Adrift
“Serves up a robustly imagined world that. . . abounds with nods to horror and macabre symbolism. . . . The novel affords some of the pleasures generated by Addams and Soprano family shenanigans.”
—Kirkus
“The Mortons is twisty and twisted fun. Truly original!”
—Tracy Sierra, author of Nightwatching
“This diabolical novel reads like a mashup of Succession and The Umbrella Academy, except set within an old-money family of assassins. With its knife-sharp writing, rocket fuel pacing, and air of mystery, The Mortons is easy to get lost in, all the way up to the brutal end.”
—Ashley Winstead, national bestselling author of This Book Will Bury Me
“Dark academia has never been so dark, nor family legacy so beguilingly treacherous! Sinister, shocking, and tantalizingly possible, The Secret History meets Succession in this epic and utterly chilling family saga. What makes us who we are, and how can our moral codes be twisted to into cold and ruthless alliance? Identity, loyalty, and the power of personal decision all teeter on the precipice in this tour de force of storytelling—and I held my breath through the entire book. Call your book club and settle in—you will never be the same after you meet the Mortons.”
—Hank Phillippi Ryan, national bestselling author of All This Could Be Yours
About the Authors:
Scott Westerfeld is the author of twelve New York Times bestsellers, including the multimillion-selling young adult series The Uglies. Westerfeld’s books have won many awards and been named New York Times Notable and ALA Best Books of the Year.
Justine Larbalestier is the author of Liar, My Sister Rosa, and six other young adult novels. Her books have been named ALA, Kirkus, and Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year. She is also a vintage fashion obsessive and (very) part-time model.