Jason Rekulak Talks Being Broke in New York, Posh Weddings, and the Thrill of a Cat-and-Mouse Chase (and a Giveaway!)

with Lauren Nossett

Jason Rekulak is the author of The Last One at the Wedding, Hidden Pictures (winner of a Goodreads Choice Award for Best Horror), and The Impossible Fortress (an Edgar Award finalist). His fiction has been translated into more than 30 languages. He lives in Philadelphia.

The Last One at the Wedding is out now!

Frank's daughter Maddie is engaged to marry Aidan Gardner, the son of a tech billionaire. Their wedding is a multi-day affair set at a sleep-away camp turned remote private estate, complete with outdoor activities, a Globe theater, and luxury cabins. It sounds like a dream, but seasoned thriller readers will also imagine how easily things could go wrong in this isolated world of rustic affluence. What inspired this setting? 

I spent my mid-twenties working in publishing in New York City; my salary was $18,000 a year so I was always broke and taking on credit card debt. But many of my coworkers came from prosperous families, and a lot of them had vacation homes in the Northeast.  And over the years I was invited to a number of very posh weddings. I'd always show up in my (heavy, dark, wool) job interview suit, so I managed to blend in fairly easily. But sometimes I'd feel like a bit of an impostor, and I think those insecurities were the initial inspiration for this book. I started writing a first draft many years ago, when I was 27 years old; I was trying to write the story from the POV of the bride's younger brother, but I never cracked the story. About two years ago, I decided to give it another try, and now here we are! 

From Frank's distrust of the valets to his confusion when an elevator drops him off in the living room of a penthouse apartment, it's clear money is relative and class plays a large role in the novel. Can you speak more about this culture clash? 

Anytime I witness a culture clash, I can usually summon empathy for people on both sides of a debate or disagreement. I'm not sure why! I come from a working-class family (my dad worked in construction, and among the women there are three generations of nurses), but I went to college to study English, and I've spent my entire adult life working in trade publishing. The industry has a reputation for being a little clubby and elitist and those descriptions aren't completely untrue! And as someone who lives in Philadelphia, I'm confronted by income inequality every time I walk out my door. I wish I could synthesize all of these disparate thoughts about money and class into some kind of sharp and pithy observation for this interview! But there's simply too much to wrap my head around. I think it's an endlessly fascinating subject, and I guess I'm still exploring how I feel about it. Which is why the subject keeps appearing (again and again) in my books.

We often hear of a mother's intuition, but in the novel, we find a dad with a gut feeling something is wrong, who worries about risking the already-strained relationship with his daughter by telling her about his suspicions. What drew you to write about father-daughter relationships? I’m thinking not just about Frank’s relationship with his own daughter, but also Abigail (whom I adored!), his sister’s temporary foster child.

Strong father-daughter relationships are central to many of my favorite movies and TV shows (I could name a hundred, everything from Interstellar and The Last of Us to Father of the Bride and Taken and even Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink), but they're relatively scarce in contemporary fiction. Again, I don't know why! My narrator is a widowed 52-year-old father (and UPS driver) based in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and I think I was drawn by the opportunity to write in a fairly unique and specific voice—to use a POV and a kind of language that readers wouldn't recognize from a hundred other thrillers. It's a decision I may live to regret! If this novel is a commercial failure, I'm pretty sure everyone is going to blame my choice of a protagonist. But he's my favorite part of the book.

Everyone in the novel has secrets, and there's a sense that the rich and powerful are always two steps ahead. What, in your opinion, is the thrill of this kind of cat-and-mouse-style chase?

I suppose we're enthralled by cat-and-mouse stories because they're never a fair fight. The cat is always bigger and stronger and faster—so by default we all empathize with the little mouse, who has to be more clever and resourceful! 

Your previous novel, Hidden Pictures, is filled with spooky illustrations drawn by a five-year-old child who's being haunted by a ghost. Can we expect to see any ghoulish pictures in this one? 

No, sorry! There are no ghosts in this book, and no ghostly drawings. But there are a couple of cool graphic elements, including a beautiful map of the family estate where the wedding is taking place. It details where all the characters are staying, and where 80% of the action takes place.  

The Osprey Cove map was created by Virginia Allyn and is being reproduced with the permission of Flatiron Books.

We're all about the thrills here at Thriller Thursday. What has thrilled you lately? 

Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe is not a thriller in the traditional sense of the word—no one gets murdered or kidnapped—but I was enthralled by the story, anyway. It's about a nineteen-year-old woman who sleeps with her (married) college professor, has his baby, and then starts a gonzo OnlyFans account to help pay the bills. (Her father also figures into the story; he's a retired professional wrestler addicted to painkillers, and he helps out with childcare.) I think it's a very gutsy book, very funny and smart and brave, and I've recommended it to just about everyone.

What are you reading?

I'm heading to the beach next week so I'm going to bring The Same Bright Stars by Ethan Joella. It's about a struggling family restaurant in Rehobeth Beach. I haven't started it yet, but it looks like a fun breezy vacation read and I bet I'm going to love it. Also bringing a new collection of short stories called Beautiful Days by Zach Williams. According to The New York Times, the stories "deftly palpate the dark areas of human psyches." The collection isn't being marketed as horror or suspense, but I suspect these stories are gonna be a little creepy. I hope so. We'll see! 

Question for our readers. Answer in the comments for a chance to win a signed copy of The Last One at the Wedding!

Jason’s Question: What's the strangest thing you've ever witnessed at a wedding?