“I came from nothing and hated it. My dad owned a small hardware store and was always struggling to keep it afloat, so I’ve taken steps to ensure that my life is going to be different. I never want to have to worry about the lights being shut off.”

One internal conflict that Blake faces is his desire to have a different life from that of his father. While it is laudable to want to have a comfortable life, his perception that his dad’s life was a “struggle” lends insight into Blake’s ruthlessness at his job and his obsession with money and status.

“I make the walk of shame back to my office while my coworkers buzz about me from ten feet away. Chad Pickering will be happiest of all—he thought the VP promotion was his before I snagged it. But he won’t be the only one celebrating. What can I say? If you want to get ahead, you have to make a few enemies.”

These words, as Blake leaves his office for the last time, further develop the unlikability of Blake’s character. While his dismissal should cause him to question his approach, it instead reaffirms his extreme desire to succeed at work, no matter the cost. Additionally, McFadden creates possible antagonists here, building suspense with Blake’s comment that he has “a few enemies.” Blake inexplicably loses his job and then is tormented in his home, making these “enemies” at work just one of the possible culprits to the novel’s central mystery of who is harassing him.

“I leaned in to hug [Krista]. When she complained I wasn’t hugging her tightly enough, we came up with a ten-point scale to determine how tight of a hug we needed given how shitty we were feeling at that exact moment. […] For a good minute, we stay in the hug, which is around a level eight or nine. She’s so good at knowing exactly how to hit the right number that I need.”

Hugging is an important facet of Krista and Blake’s relationship. Each time one of them is upset, they hug, with their “ten-point scale” emphasizing how well they know each other. However, hugging is a physical act, foreshadowing the novel’s revelation about Krista’s lack of emotional connection with Blake. She supports him repeatedly but only physically, highlighting The Gap Between Perception and Reality.

“I look at Krista. All the color has drained from her face. Is there a chance she’s taking this woman seriously? She’s literally wearing a tinfoil hat.”

McFadden crafts moments like this, where Krista interacts with Quillizabeth (an actor that Krista hired), in a way that masks the reality of what is happening. She provides Blake’s perspective, and he thinks that Krista believes Quillizabeth; in reality, Krista is shocked and impressed by Quillizabeth’s performance. Moments like this convey the theme of perception versus reality, as McFadden provides both Blake’s view of what is happening as well as Krista’s reality.

“Whitney is pretty. Okay, it’s not like I didn’t notice when she first walked in. I mean, I’m a thirty-two-year-old guy, and I have eyes. But now that I can see her in the light from the large window in the guest bedroom, I realize she’s even prettier than I thought. In jeans and a hoodie, without makeup on, she’s a nice-looking girl. If she made even the slightest effort? Well, she’d be really hot. And she’s just my type too.”

These repeated thoughts from Blake imply that he isn’t quite the loving husband he claims to be and indicate that a potential affair is what sparked Krista’s revenge-driven actions in the text, despite his repeated insistence that he would never cheat. Additionally, they emphasize Blake’s misogyny with his objectifying language, developing him as a complex character that, as his loved ones and friends can testify, becomes difficult to sympathize with—despite what happens to him.

“‘I’m not that into clothing,’ Whitney says, a touch defensively. ‘And I’ve been moving a lot, so I’ve had to pare down.’ Still. Still. Once again, those alarm bells are going off in my head, although they’re more like sirens at this point.”

These thoughts from Blake—which he has multiple times as Whitney is moving into his home—foreshadow the danger that she presents to his life. McFadden uses Blake’s instincts to build tension in the novel, establishing a tone of foreboding surrounding Whitney’s presence.

“One of the drawers in Whitney’s dresser had come off the rail and was on the brink of collapse. Expensive piece of crap. I spent about an hour in her room, reassembling the pieces of the drawer until it slid in and out smoothly. It’s the kind of thing I did with my dad a dozen times. Whitney made a big thing out of what a great job I did, and I have to admit it was fun working on it, but part of me was also embarrassed that my greatest achievement in the last three months was fixing a dresser.”

When Whitney first moves in, Blake is still unemployed, so he spends time repairing things like her doorknob and her broken drawer. His thoughts about his father, who taught him these things, hint toward his character arc in the novel, in which he will finally appreciate his father and understand The Importance of Human Connection. Now, however, he thinks of these things with a tone of dismissal, belittling the skills he learned from his father.

“[Whitney’s] not taking this as well as I would have hoped. In retrospect, it was a dick move to come to her work and complain to her here. But in my defense, she’s always working double shifts, and I had no idea when she’d be home.”

As Blake assesses his actions, like confronting Whitney at work about using his bathroom products, his thoughts convey the difference between perception and reality. He tries to portray Whitney as a bad person, noting her aggressive reaction and anger toward him. However, Blake is the one relaying the story, limiting the objectivity of the scene and highlighting the unreliability of Blake’s narration as he continues to rationalize his actions.

“In the months I’ve been at this temp job, my expected contribution to meetings has been made very clear: I take minutes. I am not expected to come up with ideas or talk or think. I just write down what everyone else says.”

Blake’s thoughts about his new job subtly convey the unreliability of his narration. The diction here, with the use of the words “made very clear” and the bitterness conveyed by “not expected to […] think,” imply that he has tried, probably repeatedly, to interject in the meetings where he doesn’t belong. While Blake is annoyed and bitter at his position, he also doesn’t share the full extent of his culpability, shaping the story.

“I’m almost certain I dragged the cans off the curb before I left for work. I can clearly remember hauling them across the sidewalk while trying not to get any garbage juice on my dress shirt. I definitely did it. Didn’t I? Yet the bins are clearly still on the curb.”

As the events of the novel unfold, McFadden builds suspense by emphasizing Blake’s unreliability to the point where Blake himself does not even fully believe his recounting of the story. Here, he insists that he already moved the garbage cans but then begins to question whether he did so. In this way, McFadden introduces two possibilities to create mystery: Blake is somehow confused or forgetting the events or someone is sabotaging him.

“I push past Malcolm, and I don’t stop until I’m out of the bar. After his half-hearted attempt to stop me, Malcolm has apparently decided to stay to finish his drink. I still can’t wrap my head around what he said to me. How could Malcolm have gotten my old job? He’s grossly unqualified. He must have brainwashed Wayne.”

Blake’s self-absorption is a component of his unreliability as a narrator. In his version of events, Malcolm is rude to him by stating, “[A]t least I don’t take drugs or steal from the company” (126). However, Blake’s internal thoughts—expressing his disbelief in Malcolm—make the reader wonder how rude and dismissive he has been in the past to receive Malcolm’s anger in retaliation. This ambiguous characterization of Blake complicates his primary internal conflict for Blake with the question of how much of his isolation is deserved or self-imposed.

“I don’t want her to leave. For a split second, a thought occurs to me: I’m a lot bigger and stronger than Krista. And it’s not like she has a weapon. She might not want to stay, but I could make her stay. Make her see.”

As the destruction of Blake’s life culminates in the loss of Krista, McFadden creates a tone of foreboding and danger. While Blake’s anger and violence have been hinted at throughout his narration, he considers using physical force on Krista for the first time. This moment calls back to Quillizabeth, who foresaw Krista’s death, creating tension and suspense about how Blake will handle the next blow to his life.

“The funny thing is, even though I don’t talk to my father much, he gives great advice. He’s a smart guy. He was married to my mother for nearly thirty years when she died, and even though they had their financial problems and he couldn’t give her everything I thought she deserved, they were always really happy together.”

When Blake is at rock bottom, he receives a call from his father. Previously, he was annoyed, not wanting to even answer; now, his reaction to the call hints toward the change that Blake is making in the novel. For the first time, he begins to understand his father’s life and the choices that he made, questioning his obsession with work and financial status and reconsidering The Hollow Signs of Success.

“I reach out to knock on the door, but because it’s already cracked open, the door shifts. The hinges protest as it swings entirely open, revealing the contents of the small bathroom, and the foundation trembles as I let out the loudest scream this brownstone has heard in years.”

At several points in the novel, McFadden uses this narrative technique to build suspense and tension. As Blake enters Zimmerly’s house, the narration slows, drawing out Blake’s progress through Zimmerly’s home and describing each moment—even the sound of the door’s hinges. Then, after Blake screams, the chapter ends, creating a dramatic cliffhanger by hiding what he sees until the next chapter begins.

“‘You’ve basically threatened me. And any hour I come home during the night, I find you wandering the house like you’re in a trance. God only knows what you’re up to.’

Is that true? I don’t wander the house all night long. Yes, my sleep has been shit. But it’s not that bad. Is it? No, it’s not. Whitney is trying to get to me. She’s trying to make me think I’m losing it. She’s even making me wonder if I could somehow be responsible for what happened to my neighbor.”

When Blake and Whitney finally confront each other about the events of the novel, the theme of perception versus reality is emphasized, as Whitney’s version of events differs greatly from Blake’s. Additionally, Blake again questions his view of events and his memory, creating more confusion around the reality of the situation.

“I have to look inside. I have to know what is in this bag. I don’t want to, but I need to see. Man up, Blake. How bad could it be? My hands are still shaking. I squint into the depths of the brown paper bag. […] It looks like there are three small objects, each about three inches long.

What the…

Oh God.

Oh God.

This is much worse than I thought.”

McFadden further escalates the novel’s foreboding tone at the moment when Blake finds the fingers in the kitchen. The short, broken lines reflect the fragmentation of Blake’s thoughts, as he is devastated and distraught by what he finds. McFadden ends the chapter with this cliffhanger, building suspense as the novel works toward its climax.

“Braga, Portugal. Like the name Telmont, it sets off little bells in the back of my head. Why can’t I remember?”

Blake repeatedly gets the feeling that parts of Whitney’s story are familiar, like the town names of Braga and Telmont. These thoughts foreshadow the biggest plot twist in the novel, hinting toward the fact that they are familiar to Blake because Krista is the real Whitney.

“Whenever I meet a prospective friend, I evaluate their positive and negative qualities. Becky is incredibly loyal—the sort of friend who might someday help me bury a dead body, if such a thing were required, which, historically, it has been for me. Also, she is far less attractive than I am, so she does not serve as a temptation for my significant other.”

The initial lines of Krista’s narration immediately create a new voice that differs greatly from Blake’s. While Blake is reactive, angry, and mostly worried about himself, Krista is calculating and manipulative. Here, Krista explains that she is friends with Becky simply because of her utility and the fact that she is not a threat, introducing her lack of empathy.

“I wanted to cry my guts out while [my mother] stroked my hair and told me that Jordan was a dirtbag and that I’d find someone a million times better. Then we’d eat cookie dough together—my favorite thing. But instead, she looked at me and said, ‘Maybe if you didn’t act so crazy, he wouldn’t have done it.’ And then she went back to peeling potatoes.”

The few glimpses into Krista’s past emphasize the internal conflict that she faces. Krista is deeply affected by the way she was treated as a child. As a result, she continues to struggle with those feelings, lending insight into why she lashes out at Jordan and then Blake when she perceives that they don’t love her—just as her mother didn’t. Her fantasy of what a mother should do, juxtaposed with what her mother did, creates a contrast that underscores how deeply Krista felt her mother’s neglect.

“Anyway, I’m not a terrible person. I gave Elijah a good time before I cut his throat open. He literally went out with a bang. And I waited until he was very sleepy and satisfied to do it.”

Krista’s thoughts are unconsciously ironic, as she believes herself to be a good person because she had sex with Elijah before killing him. This moment further emphasizes her cold, calculating nature, as she used Elijah for over a decade and then killed him without any remorse.

“I’ve got to call the police. I take my phone out of my pocket. I start to dial 911, but before I reach the third digit, I hear the story in my head and realize how ridiculous and convoluted it sounds. Nobody is going to take me seriously if I tell them the whole story. […] I’ve got to talk to Krista. If she knows I’m alive and threw up the cookies, maybe she won’t do anything stupid. Maybe.”

Blake’s hesitation to call the police conveys the complexity of his situation, as Krista has set him up to be blamed for the novel’s events. However, they also foreshadow the fact that he is still in love with her despite everything she has done. The fact that he is still considering talking to her after everything emphasizes his newfound discovery of the importance of human connection; if there is still a chance that he can fix things with her, his thoughts convey that he will take it.

“‘Please don’t die, Krista.’ Despite everything she did to me, my eyes fill with tears. ‘I love you.’

Her lips crack open, and a bubble of blood forms at her lips. ‘You…don’t…even…know me.’”

The final words between Krista and Blake convey two themes of the novel: the importance of human connection and the gap between perception and reality. As Krista dies, despite everything she has done, Blake reaffirms his love for her and his insistence that he still wants to be with her, conveying just how much he values his connection with her. In response, Krista points out that he doesn’t “know” her, as she has allowed him to perceive her as someone she is not, masking the reality of who she is.

“Wayne Vincent called me personally to offer me the VP job again. Apparently, Malcolm wasn’t able to keep up with the workload, and they were planning to let him go. Nobody could handle this job better than you, Blake. But after the way he threw me out on my ass after all those years without even giving me the benefit of the doubt…well, I couldn’t image ever going back there. I hadn’t realized how toxic Coble & Roy was, even when my predecessor tried to hurl himself out the window.”

Blake’s final thoughts about his job affirm his dynamic characterization and the change that he has made in the novel. Now, when he thinks about the job he lost, he realizes how poorly he was treated by Wayne when he was dismissed. Additionally, he now thinks differently of the description that opened the novel: his predecessor’s attempted death by suicide. Now, instead of seeing it as an illustration of the man’s failings, he sees it for what it is: the impact of the extreme pressures of the corporate world.