Trigger Warning: An Academic Thriller

by Sid Stark

When does freedom go too far? Doctor Rowena Halley has finally found a job that pays enough to live on. Too bad it's a continent away from one of the men in her life, and an ocean away from the other. Plus, the campus she's teaching at is not the idyllic haven it seems. There are the usual problems of busywork, embarrassing extracurricular activities, a difficult department chair. And then there's real danger. A Gamergate activist has been invited to speak at the college, and a campus Men's Rights group has threatened to protest the event. Are the rumors of violence swirling around the speaker "just talk," or are they going to become action? When Rowena gets drawn into organizing the event, she is called on to find out before something tragic happens. Her dive into the campus's incel culture just threatens to stir the pot, though. Rowena is worried that she's going to lose her job. With tensions on campus running this high, however, it may be more than her contract that is terminated. The college is concerned about freedom of speech. Rowena is concerned about the freedom to stay alive. Combining suspense, dark humor, and a touch of romance, Trigger Warning is a sharply satirical examination of modern higher ed reminiscent of Robert B. Parker's investigations into the dark side of contemporary college life, written by someone with years of experience in the trenches of academia. *Content Along with the kind of adult language you should expect from mouthy undergrads and battle-scarred Iraq vets, this book also contains a serious discussion of bullying, incel culture, and gun violence. You've been warned.*

Genres: Mystery, Thriller

361 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 5, 2020

About the author

Under her other name, Sid lives a life very similar to that of her characters, although with more tedious grading and fewer exciting chase scenes.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read.

[Doug Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Rowena Halley has landed a two-year job as a Visiting Assistant Professor (VAP) of Russian at Georgia's Crimson College, alma mater of her mother and grandmother. It's the best academic position she has had so far, but it still more drawbacks than she initially foresees---in particular, a tyrannical department chair who announces she could be fired at any time, unfairly trashes her teaching, and wants her to do some committee work (a task from which VAPs are usually exempt).

Rowena volunteers to join the committee that is bringing a high-profile speaker to campus, a young woman who has exposed bad treatment of women in the online gaming community. She ends up making a lot of the arrangements for the lecture, a job that takes a lot of time and aggravation, especially when a small group of students announces it will protest the event.

Meanwhile, two other new faculty members need her help, and she misses her boyfriend Alex, who is teaching in California. This novel focuses attention on the trials and tribulations of temporary university faculty members.

[Sandy Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first book by this author but it definitely won't be my last. Although there are books in the series before this one I had no trouble jumping in. The author did a great job of giving the readers just enough back story to understand the main characters.

The author also did a wonderful job of dealing with several current day situations in a factional but entertaining way. I was hooked from the first paragraph and couldn't wait to see what would happen next.

I received an advanced reader copy but the review is my own honest opinion.

[Shirley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I'm too old to relate to this sort of woke premise. The main character tiptoes around both her boss and her students and never actually does anything much. The only character with any gumption is her lesbian friend Mel. We never find out what is really wrong with Mel and her alarming symptoms and Chloe seems to drop out of the story without any explanation. A disappointing read.

[Marlys · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great audio book to listen to while I drove. This is the first book in the series that I listened to and I look forward to listening or reading more.
I received an audio book from the author and I am happy to leave a review.

[Esmeralda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't like to write reviews but this one had me turning pages. I've been out of college for a long time but I loved the description of the hypocritical bureaucracy of a small southern college. I want to read more by this author.

[Lisa Macon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and adorable. Now I need to read the rest of the books.

[Kathleen Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Good Read

The ending was not what I had expected when I stated to read this book. Sid Stark has obviously spent time in academia.

[Joyce Lorenzen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Frequent coarse language