A Flaw in the Design

An ingenious thriller about a father who has to adopt his nephew, despite fearing he is a psychopath

He's in your house. He's in your family. Or is he in your mind?

Gil has been estranged from his sister ever since her obnoxious son tried to drown his daughter on a family holiday. That's Gil's interpretation; his sister thinks Matthew was just playing around.

Or did. When she and her husband perish in a car crash, Gil becomes Matthew's legal guardian. Matthew is now an urbane 17-year-old, raised on Manhattan's Upper East Side, a planet away from rural Vermont, where Gil lives with his wife and daughters, teaching at the local university.

At first, Matthew appears to have changed, but when he joins Gil's writing class, he submits a story detailing the various ways a character resembling Gil's youngest daughter might die. While Gil believes he has invited a psychopath to live under his roof, the women in his life are impressed by Matthew's intelligence and charm. Is Gil losing his mind, or are his family in desperate danger?

Review

Great characterisation and plenty of genuine suspense in a psychological thriller par excellence ― Guardian

An absorbing and original plot. The writing is pitch-perfect and the observations of family dynamics are quietly excruciating. Oates has produced a very smart tale packed with jeopardy ― Daily Mail


Not only a deep dive into the things that can rock the cradle of a family, but also an absolute page-turner. I read it in a single sitting. -- Miranda Cowley Heller, author of The Paper Palace

Phenomenal. A highly enjoyable Russian doll of a story. Impossible to put down. A remarkable debut -- Lisa Ballantyne, bestselling author of The Guilty One

A Flaw in the Design is a literary thriller of the highest order - a book that made my heart beat fast and my brain light up -- Julia May Jonas, author of Vladimir

A mesmerising literary thriller, full of atmosphere, perfectly observed characterisation and a plot that relentlessly corkscrews to a brilliant dénouement. I found myself completely immersed from start to finish, fully hooked on Nathan Oates' stunning fiction -- Philippa East, author of Little White Lies

This is SO up my street. Gil is estranged from his wealthy sister, as her son once tried to drown Gil's daughter when they were kids. But when his sister dies, Gil adopts the would-be-murderer. LOVE IT -- Joanna Cannon, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep

Brutal and compelling, A Flaw in the Design ... swerves and shocks before smashing into you, a T-bone collision you can hold in your hands. -- Julia Phillips, author of Disappearing Earth

Brilliantly constructed and psychologically astute -- Antoine Wilson, author of Mouth to Mouth

Astonishingly good. A brilliant premise, a pulse-pounding plot, gorgeous language - this book has it all -- Sarah Pekkanen, New York Times bestselling author of Gone Tonight

Menace and mendacity vie with the mundane in this skillfully told tale about ambition and grief and envy... A Flaw In the Design is an impressive debut. Cue the sequel -- Alice McDermott, winner of the National Book Award for Charming Billy

About the Author

Nathan Oates's debut collection of short stories, The Empty House, won the 2012 Spokane Prize. He is an associate professor at Seton Hall University, where he teaches creative writing. He lives in Brooklyn, New York with his family. A Flaw in the Design is his debut novel.