Have you ever wanted to be part of a secret society? This psychological campus thriller will let you into that rarefied world — from a comfortable distance. Julian Morrow is a reclusive professor of ancient Greek, with a cult-like following among his small group of students. He creates an aura of elitism and secrecy, convincing them of his disturbing belief that "beauty is terror." In order to experience this, they hold a "bacchanal" — a night of extreme revelry, substance abuse, sex, and

—Jennifer Miller

Rumor has it that Donna Tartt, one of the most celebrated novelists of the 1990s, is set to publish a comeback book next year, and we cannot wait. Still, we doubt that she can ever top her debut classic, 1996's The Secret History. The thriller, set at the fictional Hampden College in rural Vermont, follows a posse of friends studying Greek philosophy who conspire to murder a member of the group (they succeed, as we learn on page one). Told from the perspective of narrator Richard