The Smaller Evil

Seventeen-year-old Arman is anxious, self-loathing, mostly ignored by his mother and stepfather, and ashamed of his incarcerated father. He makes an easy mark for Beau, the charismatic founder of a remote "retreat" called Evolve, whose mission is to inoculate participants against "social order disease." Although Beau takes a particular interest in Arman (because, it's later revealed, Beau is seeking a successor), Arman can't shake the bad feeling he has about Evolve and sneaks away from the compound. Beau catches up with him, but then things take a surreal, suspenseful turn. Manipulated psychologically and sexually, drugged without his knowledge, trying to comprehend a situation that appears to involve conspiracy, murder, and even the paranormal, Arman can't trust anyone -- or even his own mind. Interspersed with events at the compound are disturbing second-person, present-tense vignettes that relate the recruitment of a young woman. Kuehn's novels (Charm & Strange, rev. 11/13; Complicit, rev. 7/14; Delicate Monsters, rev. 7/15) frequently explore the unreliability of perception and memory, as well as the human mind's ability to protect itself from harmful information and situations, and this book is no exception. The reader experiences Arman's profound disorientation and panic along with him, even as details provided by his experiences and in the vignettes call his judgment into serious question. Foreboding builds inexorably to a conclusion that feels both tragic and inevitable. katie bircher

While attending a "retreat" called Evolve, seventeen-year-old Arman can't shake a bad feeling. He sneaks away from the compound, and then things take a suspenseful turn. Manipulated psychologically and sexually, drugged, trying to comprehend a surreal and frightening situation, Arman can't trust anyone--or his own perception. Foreboding builds inexorably to a conclusion that feels both tragic and inevitable.