Editorial Content for Heart of Glass

In HEART OF GLASS, Jennifer Hillier invites readers to Seaside, Washington, the scene of her thriller, WONDERLAND, where dead bodies tend to show up with alarming frequency. Though the novels operate as standalones, readers of WONDERLAND will delight in returning to the book’s eponymous theme park.

“My name is Samuel Figg…. I’m serving five consecutive life sentences for first-degree murder…. And so I got nothing to lose by telling the truth…. That I murdered four women in the summer of 2001.” So begins season seven of the hit true-crime series “Criminal Confessions,” hosted by the dogged Jana Jones and currently focusing on the serial killer known as the Carnival Killer. 

Back in 2001, Samuel Figg was arrested after a string of murders of pretty, young, brunette women, each of whom he met at carnivals as he carved a murderous track across the country. But the fifth victim, who was discovered when a Polaroid of the two was found in Figg’s car, broke the pattern. Only 15 and blonde, Lorelei was Figg’s youngest and lightest-haired victim. Despite admitting to all five murders, suddenly Figg is now saying that he didn’t kill Lorelei at all. But he has some interesting theories about who did.

"[W]hat truly cements this book as Hillier’s best work yet is the suffocating claustrophobia with which she infuses every scene, particularly those at Wonderland and in interstitial chapters in a remote cabin."

Of course, just because Figg says he didn’t kill Lorelei doesn’t mean that he didn’t spend enough time with her that summer to be photographed with her, along with her two best friends, Barb and Nicolette. Though her murder occurred 25 years ago, the two have not spoken since, agreeing to put Lorelei, Figg and the horrible night that changed their lives behind them for good. This is why Barb, currently a freelance journalist in Seaside, sends an immediate “NO” to Jones when she is asked to be part of the series. 

With journalism a dying career, Barb has enough on her plate, which includes reporting on Seaside’s many suspicious deaths and moonlighting as an anonymous gossip columnist for the reality TV blog Reality Bitch, where she writes recaps of “Trophy Wives,” a “Real Housewives”-esque trashy drama featuring rich, bitchy wives and their goofy husbands. But even this is not a distraction from the trauma of living in the town where her best friend was murdered. Nicolette “Cole” Lennox is the show’s erstwhile star.

When we meet Barb, tragedy has come for Seaside once again with the finding of a washed-up, amputated foot, which is soon followed by the discovery of the body to which it once belonged. Pairing both her journalistic curiosity and her encyclopedic knowledge of reality TV, Barb suggests that the body may be that of Kylie Kahl, a TikTok influencer turned trophy wife whose brief stint on “Trophy Wives” was cut short by her disappearance six years ago. 

But what are the odds that two of the show’s stars would have connections to Seaside and that Kylie’s body would appear just when interest in the Carnival Killer was reignited? Barb may be a bit obsessive about both Lorelei and Cole’s rise to stardom, but there’s no denying that this is somewhat troubling. And looming in the background is Wonderland, the ghostly theme park that changed their lives forever and whose deep, seedy ties within the Seaside community serve as constant reminders to never let one’s guard down.

Meanwhile, in reality TV land, Cole has been rocked by yet another scandal. Known as the only true-love pairing on “Trophy Wives,” she and her husband have dodged infidelity rumors for years, but those are nothing compared to the latest news that he has been accused of embezzlement. “No press is bad press,” the saying goes, but the producers are quick to remind Cole that while it’s fun to dangle cheating scandals in viewers’ faces, it’s much harder to rehabilitate the image of a wealthy man doing bad things to get wealthier. With her career on the line, Cole makes a deal: if she appears on “Criminal Confessions,” the network will continue to renew her contract. But talking about Lorelei isn’t easy. Reality TV may be fake, but so is her and Barb’s story about what really happened that night.

While Barb nervously tracks the postmortem of Seaside’s latest dead body and carefully dodges news about the Carnival Killer documentary, Cole straddles the line between truth and honesty, devising humiliating stunts to keep her career alive while silently planning her exit from her marriage. Finances, reputations and lives are on the line, and somehow it all seems to connect to Seaside. But investigating the macabre town where bad things always happen opens both women up to being seen, watched and exploited in turn. Neither of them can afford to have her reputation shattered, especially with the Carnival Killer recanting his original confession and reigniting interest in Lorelei’s death. 

To reflect the women’s own memories of that night, Jennifer Hillier employs deep, poignant flashbacks to when they were teens as each navigates feelings of isolation, loneliness and insecurity. Writing them as both girls and adults, Hillier renders two wonderfully complete, fleshed-out and complex characters who you will always root for…even when their choices make your jaw drop. Because at the end of the day, something evil has always lurked in Seaside, and people will do incredible things in the name of survival. And that’s even before the real predators show up.

Hillier is a master of suspense, and HEART OF GLASS is perhaps her scariest, most devilishly demented novel yet. Though she builds on the story she began in WONDERLAND, HEART OF GLASS stands completely on its own, with the spooky, eerie Wonderland theme park connecting the two. She plays with multiple perspectives, timelines and formats, breaking up her main narrative with transcripts of “Criminal Confessions.” This dynamic structure propels the plot along, and the two deaths at its center weave and intertwine in fascinating, shocking ways. 

But what truly cements this book as Hillier’s best work yet is the suffocating claustrophobia with which she infuses every scene, particularly those at Wonderland and in interstitial chapters in a remote cabin. I’m certain now that if you were to look up “hair-raising” in the dictionary, you’d see HEART OF GLASS there, with Hillier grinning deviously in the background. For an author as adept at penning real, human characters with relatable flaws and enviable dreams as she is, she certainly delights in devastating, terrifying and shocking her readers. 

While it’s not necessary to read WONDERLAND first, I highly recommend doing so. Not only is it fun to have further context, watching Hillier grow and hone her craft is a masterclass in genre writing.