Book Review: This Is How We End Things by R. J. Jacobs

Joe Lyons is a rock star. As the head of psychology at Dorrance University, he’s internationally renowned for his cutting-edge research, even if his methods are perhaps less than acceptable to many contemporary ethics boards:

Layer by layer, the details of [his] experiment had been revealed to her: A study on dishonesty that necessitated deceiving the subjects. It was the daring kind of experiment that modern Institutional Review Boards never green-lighted anymore because of its potential for causing psychological harm. But it was also precisely the kind of study that had made Joe Lyons prominent in the field.

 

No one took risks in research like he did.

 

Not for forty years.

Joe’s latest experiment is on the subject of disinformation, a topic he’s passionate about. He (not wrongly) believes that learning how and why people engage in the dissemination and acceptance of fake news could change the face of modern society. After all, previous celebrated experiments on prisoners and fascism helped change the public conversation, if not outright policy, regarding incarceration and government. His work on disinformation could have a similar impact. What does it matter if a few individual feelings get hurt in the process?

Since Joe isn’t a complete monster, he’s decided to add another key member to his small team. Veronica Haskins has no background in research but did recently graduate with a law degree. Her specialty is in managing liability, and her initial recommendations immediately make her unpopular with her new colleagues. Robert Barlowe, their de facto leader and Joe’s right-hand man, is happy enough to go along with whatever makes Joe happy, as is Elizabeth Colton, the beautiful grad student who’s grown suspiciously close with Joe. Prickly, hyper-focused Britt Martinez, on the other hand, has no qualms about showing her disdain for the newcomer and the limitations she’s placing on their research. Athletic rich kid Chris Collins is also antagonistic.

That pretty much leaves it to the last member of the team, Scarlett Simmons, to smooth things over. This is a task that comes naturally to her, even if she has her own private misgivings about how things are going:

Robert’s comment echoed in her mind. The moral compass, was that really her role? And if so, where were the moral compasses of the other team members? She hadn’t thought of the teams’ deception as more than harmless mischief, but had she lost her directionality? Was there more danger in the experiment than she dared to face? Scarlett had idealized the team early on: the close-knit planning sessions, endless drip coffees, and stacks of papers were exactly as she’d pictured them when she’d applied. University life in general suited her, strolling manicured paths between storied lecture halls and world-class laboratories, while guitar notes from students drifted in the wind, felt invigorating enough to justify the worrisome debt she’d taken on, the bills she struggled to pay, and the unvarying meals of noodles she and her daughter consumed.

Scarlett needs their work to succeed, needs the career boost that authoring papers with Joe will bring her. Getting her name out there will bring her both job security and the money she needs to take care of her young daughter. But when violence erupts at the very first session Veronica oversees, even Scarlett has to wonder if Joe’s methods have finally gone too far. And that’s even before murder strikes down a member of their tightly-knit group.

With the snowstorm of the century descending on their small North Carolina town, Police Detective Alana Larson has to figure out who might want members of Joe’s research team dead, even as the body count rises and troubling facts about each researcher come to the surface. All of them have something to hide, but would any of them kill to protect their secrets? They’d certainly lie, a specialty Joe trained them in for conducting their research. Will Detective Larson be able to separate fact from very well put-together fictions as she races to stop a diabolical killer from striking again? 

The dark academia vibes are just right in This Is How We End Things, as six grad students and their charismatic advisor find themselves locked in a nightmare that’s at least partially of their own making. No one is who they seem, and only the plucky outsider detective can get to the bottom of their web of secrets and manipulation to save the lives of the innocent. While I figured out whodunnit fairly early on, the plot twists were revealed with aplomb, with the last third of the book especially a page-turning thrill ride. R J Jacobs’ background in psychology is put to terrific use here in his fourth and latest novel of suspense.