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Notes on Surviving the Fire: A Novel
When Sarah’s only friend in her graduate program is found dead of an alleged heroin overdose, Sarah is forced back into the orbit of the man in their department who assaulted her. A hurtling ride of a novel—darkly funny and propulsive.
"A thriller’s bones, a satire’s glare, and a comeuppance story’s anarchic spirit.”—The New Yorker
"Wonderfully mordant. . . . It's one of the best depictions of how trauma cracks the psyche that I've read recently."—New York Times "Best Mystery Novels of 2025"
At a Ph.D. program in Southern California, Sarah and her best friend, Nathan, spend their time working on their theses, getting high, and keeping track of the poor air quality due to nearby forest fires. No one believes Sarah when she reports a fellow student for raping her at a party—“He’s such a good guy!”—and the Title IX office simply files away the information, just like the police. Nathan is the only person who cares.
When Sarah finds Nathan dead of an overdose from a drug he’s always avoided, she knows something isn’t right. She starts investigating his death as a murder, and as the pieces fall into place, she notices a disturbing pattern in other student deaths on campus.
As a girl, Sarah grew up in the forests of Maine, following her father on hunts, learning how to stalk prey and kill, but only when necessary. Now, she must confront a different type of killing—and decide if it can be justified.
Notes on Surviving the Fire is a story about vengeance, the insidious nature of rape culture, and ultimately, a woman's journey to come back to herself.
"A thriller’s bones, a satire’s glare, and a comeuppance story’s anarchic spirit.”—The New Yorker
"Wonderfully mordant. . . . It's one of the best depictions of how trauma cracks the psyche that I've read recently."—New York Times "Best Mystery Novels of 2025"
At a Ph.D. program in Southern California, Sarah and her best friend, Nathan, spend their time working on their theses, getting high, and keeping track of the poor air quality due to nearby forest fires. No one believes Sarah when she reports a fellow student for raping her at a party—“He’s such a good guy!”—and the Title IX office simply files away the information, just like the police. Nathan is the only person who cares.
When Sarah finds Nathan dead of an overdose from a drug he’s always avoided, she knows something isn’t right. She starts investigating his death as a murder, and as the pieces fall into place, she notices a disturbing pattern in other student deaths on campus.
As a girl, Sarah grew up in the forests of Maine, following her father on hunts, learning how to stalk prey and kill, but only when necessary. Now, she must confront a different type of killing—and decide if it can be justified.
Notes on Surviving the Fire is a story about vengeance, the insidious nature of rape culture, and ultimately, a woman's journey to come back to herself.
Audible Audio
Published February 25, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 2, 2025
I picked this up on Audible after reading about it in The New Yorker. It was a tough read—not because it was bad, but because of the graphic depictions of sexual assault combined with the main character’s drug-induced episodes, which at times felt disorienting. The plot had promise, but for reasons I can’t quite pinpoint, it kept losing me. Maybe it was the fragmented flashbacks or the drug haze sequences, which made it hard to stay grounded in the story.
That said, I did finish it in just a couple of days. I also found the audiobook narrator’s “voices” for other characters more distracting than helpful—noticeable, but not enough to ruin the experience. I genuinely wanted to like this more than I did. It had all the makings of a strong thriller, and for a debut, Christine Murphy shows real talent. I’ll likely give her another shot.
That said, I did finish it in just a couple of days. I also found the audiobook narrator’s “voices” for other characters more distracting than helpful—noticeable, but not enough to ruin the experience. I genuinely wanted to like this more than I did. It had all the makings of a strong thriller, and for a debut, Christine Murphy shows real talent. I’ll likely give her another shot.
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May 18, 2025This is just not my kind of book. Will never understand why people say they love it.
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December 2, 2025Much to enjoy here. It doesn’t go where one initially (obviously) expects, (which is a bit of a relief! Could have been really dark!)
The author is a scholar of Buddhism, so there’s some exploration of this and of graduate studies.
Anyway, I dug it.
The author is a scholar of Buddhism, so there’s some exploration of this and of graduate studies.
Anyway, I dug it.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews