The Herd

A Novel

By: Andrea Bartz

Narrated by: Karissa Vacker, Emily Woo Zeller

Why did the founder of a glamorous coworking space for women disappear? Her best friends will risk everything to uncover the truth in this “propulsive thriller” (Marie Claire) from the New York Times bestselling author of the Reese’s Book Club pick We Were Never Here.

“Perfect for fans of Big Little Lies.”—The Washington Post

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Real Simple • Marie Claire • Good Housekeeping • CrimeReads

As CEO of the Herd, an elite women-only coworking space, Eleanor Walsh seems to have it all: close friends, a sweet husband, and the most glamorous and successful female-empowerment-based company in New York City. Then she vanishes on the night of a glitzy press conference—and the police suspect foul play.

For Hana, the head of PR for the Herd and Eleanor’s best friend, this is a nightmare. For Hana’s sister, Katie, a journalist, this is the story that will make her career. But when the sisters launch their own investigation and begin to learn what Eleanor was hiding, they must also face the secrets they’ve been keeping from each other—and confront just how dangerous it can be when women’s perfect veneers start to crack.

©2020 Andrea Bartz (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Andrea Bartz breathes new life into the psychological thriller by setting her novels in bitingly modern settings. Her first book, The Lost Night, is set in Williamsburg’s party scene; The Herd is a biting satire of a women’s workspace like the Wing, and the darkness that may lurk behind that perfectly coiffed sitting room.”—O: The Oprah Magazine

“This thriller offers a nonstop plot and layers of mystery—not to mention smart commentary on female friendships and social media.”—Real Simple

“As she did in her debut The Lost Night, Andrea Bartz constructed a complex cast of female characters who will make ‘feminist thriller’ your new favorite genre. Read The Herd ASAP—but maybe not at a coworking space.”—HelloGiggles

Good thriller fun

This was a lot of fun! I enjoyed the writing style and the narrators were both good.

Great!

Finally a truly original story...I loved it every minute of it! The performance was great, too!

Edge Of My Seat

This wonderful modern feminist thriller had me in suspense the entire time. What a book! the performance was fantastic too! MORE PLEASE.

MEH...(Shrug)

Almost didn't make it past the slow beginning. it picked up, but It was a MEH for me.

Good mystery

A good who done it that kept that fact from you until the end. Enjoyed

Hard to follow

Good story, great ending. Kind of hard to follow at the beginning, couldn’t really get into it until about 3/4 of the way through.

Read the authors other books

The Lost Night and We Were Never There were amazing. The Herd is really, really bad.

Completely surprising and stunning

This book started out a little slow for me, but quickly grabbed my interest and carried me on a crazy roller coaster ride until the very end, literally. The four main characters, each different, complex, carrying various baggage and secrets, are like no other. Bartz had me guessing and wondering the entire way through as to what really happened to Eleanor and who was responsible. She threw curve balls in to keep me wondering who exactly was responsible as she had a way of making several characters suspicious. I didn’t guess how it would all wrap up and I love being thrown off. Then, in the epilogue, one more secret tidbit was thrown in to make me gasp as I finished the last words. I greatly enjoyed the creativity of Bartz and her eloquent way of writing. She truly has a way with words, even evident in her acknowledgments. I enjoyed reading as she described her gratefulness to the reader that gave me pause in her insightfulness, then to others and her flowing words together like I haven’t seen in acknowledgements before. Color me impressed by Andrea Bartz.
The narration, also, was top-notch!!!

I loved it! Would probably even re-read (which I rarely do, so that says a lot)!

Kept me guessing until the very end! The plot was entertaining throughout but it reeaaally picked up about halfway through! Good for those craving a modern murder mystery (or two..) with timely themes and relatable imperfect main characters. :) Told mostly from the perspective of sisters Hana and Katie. I enjoyed hearing the story from both perspectives and saw some of myself in both of them. I would totally read a sequel if there was one, but it also wraps up in a sufficiently satisfying way. The performance was fantastic and every character had a unique and appropriate voice of their own.

it was just okay....,

I was expecting better and was disappointed. I finished it all and the narration was excellent. The ending was more exciting, but it took forever getting there.