The New Year’s Party

Satterthwaite (Made for You) serves up a solid thriller about a holiday tradition turned deadly. Though it’s been a few years since Nathan Phelps hosted a New Year’s Eve party for his high school friends Bennett, Doug, and Will, he and his new girlfriend are all in for the bash’s return. Things get off to a rough start when Doug’s wife, Hellie, accuses Will of being complicit in Doug losing his job. Then tensions arise between Bennett and Nathan, whom Bennett confronts about sleeping with his wife at the New Year’s party five years before. When cocaine and alcohol enter the mix, a brawl breaks out between Hellie and Will’s wife, Jenn, who fancies herself spiritually superior to her fellow guests, and the festivities officially spiral out of control. Over the course of the evening, nearly everyone makes bombshell revelations, forges new alliances, and rehashes old grudges, so when one of the party guests turns up dead the following morning, there’s no shortage of suspects. The setup is formulaic, but Satterthwaite uses her well-drawn cast of jaundiced and wounded 30-somethings to inject the proceedings with real feeling. It’s a wicked treat. Agent: Lauren Bieker, Fine Print Lit. (Nov.)