Fox
- Judith D Collins
- Jul 18
- 6 min read
Narrators: Max Meyers, Chris Andrew Ciulla, Kirsten Potter, Fred Berman, Matt Godfrey, Gail Shalan, Rebecca Lowman, Rachel L. Jacobs, Eunice Wong, Ina Barrón
Random House Audio
ISBN: 9780593978085
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: 06/17/2025
Format: Other
Audio: 25 hrs. 2 min.
My Rating: 5 Stars+ (ARC) (ALC)
A spellbinding novel of literary and psychological suspense about the dark secrets that surface after the shocking disappearance of a charismatic, mercurial teacher at an elite boarding school—by the legendary author “who is surely on any shortlist of America’s greatest living writers” (The New York Times Magazine)
“Eerie, shocking, provoking, and beautifully written, Fox is yet further proof Oates is one of the greatest writers among us today.”
—Gillian Flynn
“I found it mesmerizing front to back.” —Michael Connelly
Who is Francis Fox? A charming English teacher new to the idyllic Langhorne Academy, Fox beguiles many of his students, their parents, and his colleagues at the elite boarding school, while leaving others wondering where he came from and why his biography is so enigmatic. When two brothers discover Fox’s car half-submerged in a pond in a local nature preserve and parts of an unidentified body strewn about the nearby woods, the entire community, including Detective Horace Zwender and his deputy, begins to ask disturbing questions about Francis Fox and who he might really be.
A hypnotic, galloping tale of crime and complicity, revenge and restitution, victim vs. predator, Joyce Carol Oates’s Fox illuminates the darkest corners of the human psyche while asking profound moral questions about justice and the response evil demands. A character as magnetically diabolical as Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley and Vladimir Nabokov’s Humbert Humbert, Francis Fox enchants and manipulates nearly everyone around him, until at last he meets someone he can’t outfox. Written in Oates’s trademark intimate, sweeping style, and interweaving multiple points of view, Fox is a triumph of craftsmanship and artistry, a novel as profound as it is propulsive, as moving as it is full of mystery.
Praise
“Utterly mesmeric.”
—The Guardian
“Remarkably engrossing . . . impressive and unsettling.”
—Owen King, The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)
“A classic psychological suspense . . . feels ripped from the headlines.”
—People
“At the heart of her latest novel stands Francis Fox, a mysterious charmer who is nearly as protean as Oates, though—no offense to either novelist or character—profoundly more menacing. Tom Ripley, eat your heart out.”
—NPR
“This sprawling yet immersive novel is rich in suspense, diabolical secrets and psychological insight.”
—The Economist
“A dark, daring plunge into literary suspense, and it’s absolutely chilling . . . Uneasy, unflinching and unforgettable, this is Oates at her most disturbing and masterful.”
—The Seattle Times
“Charming but mysterious English teacher . . . dead body . . . dogged detective . . . deep questions about what it means to be human . . . and Oates. Yes please.”
—Esquire
“It’s no surprise [Oates has] written a big summer book. . . . Fox is poised to be the big escape a lot of us are looking for right about now.”
—The Boston Globe
“Enthralling . . . chilling . . . Oates wants us to turn pages and squirm.”
—Los Angeles Times
“A chilling portrait of manipulation and menace within the cloistered world of an elite boarding school.”
—Financial Times
“Eerie, shocking, provoking, and beautifully written, Fox is yet further proof that Oates is one of the greatest writers among us today.”
—#1 New York Times bestselling author Gillian Flynn
“As beautifully written and brilliantly constructed as this story is, as wonderful as the mystery is, Fox’s power is in the many depths of character Joyce Carol Oates explores and how she captures the nuances of the choices people make.”
—#1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly
“I can’t remember the last time I read something so (darkly, disconcertingly) addictive that yet bears so much realism and nuance and depth. Oates is a genius in the truest sense of the word—fearing nothing, including radical reinvention—and Fox is, to my mind, her most compelling book in her remarkable career.”
—Rebecca Makkai, New York Times bestselling author of I Have Some Questions For You
“[A] psychological thriller about a private school teacher whose disturbing past is uncovered when his car is found submerged in the swampy wetlands . . . a probing analysis of the mind of a predatory person.”
—Hartford Courant
“[Fox is] unlike any other mystery I’ve read. It’s so fully imagined, in the way that only Oates can do, powerful and sinister and beautifully written in her mesmerizing prose. Nobody else writes like the great Joyce Carol Oates. It’s remarkable.”
—New York Times bestselling author Joseph Finder
“Oates layers this extraordinarily complex tale with many surprises that keep the pages turning to the point where the length of the novel seems effortless on her part and impossible to put down . . . [Oates is] a literary master.”
—Bookreporter
“A mystery at heart, but a gorgeously composed one that uses every modality to create ominous atmosphere . . . it is nearly impossible to look away.”
—Open Letters Review
“[A] captivating whodunit . . . Oates is at the top of her game.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“[Oates] is at her best here: insightful, unrelenting, and devastating.”
—Library Journal, starred review
“A tautly wound procedural, elegantly written . . . [a] moody, often shocking mystery.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“A master of her craft.”—AARP
“Menacing, mesmerizing, and thoroughly provocative.” —Booklist, starred review
About the Author
Photo credit: © Emily Soto / Trunk Archive
JOYCE CAROL OATES is a recipient of the National Humanities Medal, the National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Life Achievement Award, the National Book Award, the Jerusalem Prize for Lifetime Achievement, the Prix Femina, and the Cino Del Duca World Prize. She has been nominated several times for the Pulitzer Prize. She has written some of the most enduring fiction of our time, including the national best sellers We Were the Mulvaneys, Blonde, and the New York Times best seller The Falls. She is the Roger S. Berlind ’52 Distinguished Professor of the Humanities Emerita at Princeton University and has been a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978. READ MORE
Dark. Disturbing. Daring. Bold!
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Award-winning author Joyce Carol Oates delivers a literary masterpiece! A spellbinding, unsettling literary/psychological suspense that will hypnotize you from the front cover to the last page.
Dark secrets are uncovered after the disappearance of a charismatic teacher at an elite boarding school, posing the question:
Who is Francis Fox?
About...
Francis Fox is an enigmatic, charming, and manipulative new 30-something Englishteacher at the Langhorne Academy in New Jersey (2013). He grooms his female middle school students by encouraging their writing while leading them into a false sense of security and violates them.
He came her under a new name after being kicked out of another school. How long will it be before he is found out here?
When Fox's car is found in a local nature preserve pond and parts of an unidentified body in the nearby woods, the community is in uproar, demanding answers to this chilling whodunit mystery.
The case led by Detective Horace Zwender unravels the evil and disturbing questions about Francis Fox. Who was this man? What drove him to his actions?
Who will outfox Fox?
Who had the motive to murder Fox?
Many, it seems.
My thoughts..
Psychologically rich and character-driven, Oates @joycecaroloates3146 brilliantly delves into the human psyche and mind of this evil twisted sinister predator, Francis Fox, offering a thought-provoking, award-winning literary, psychological, crime, and coming of age whodunit mystery suspense.
Divided into seven parts with an epilogue, Fox is a lengthy one and not for the faint of heart. From the evil Fox to his little kittens, mystery journals, dark secrets, and ways the Fox (a twisted pedophile) sprays his vendom across many victims.
Menacing, mesmerizing, sinister, compelling, and spine-chilling!
Audiobook...
I had the pleasure of reading the e-book and listening to the audiobook (afterwards-24 hrs 2 min) and was blown away by this all-star cast delivering an award-winning performance! Each voice was spot on capturing the menace and artistry of each character! Top Audiobook of 2025. Highly recommend the audiobook. Thank you, Gail, for the recommendation!
@heyitsmaxmeyers (Fox: spine-chilling) @grshalan (Eunice Pfenning-award-winning) @bostonvoiceguy @kirstenpotter @thefredberman @godfreyreads @lobecca @racheljnarrates @eunicewongnarration and @inabarron
Francis Fox charms and manipulates everyone around him and Oates is at the top of her game with her signature style and craft, keeping you glued to the pages. The author skillfully peels back the layers (of predator and victims) with a shocking twist you do not see coming. Loved the janitor.
A huge fan of the author, and with Fox, she showcases all her super-star qualities, she is known for (a literary genius).
Recs...
Beautifully written, FOX is for fans of the author and those who enjoy well written literary fiction, crime fiction, and whodunit mysteries. Also for fans of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita.
Special thanks to Random House and NetGalley for a gifted advanced reading copy, and to Random House Audio for an advanced listening copy for my honest thougths.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub date: June 17, 2025
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