Author, and Hopkinton native, Christine Murphy is headed to Gibson’s Bookstore, to present her debut novel, Notes on Surviving the Fire, in which she introduces us to Sarah, who grew up in the forests of Maine and learned how to stalk prey and kill, but only when necessary. Now, Sarah must confront a different type of killing—and decide if it can be justified in an unbelievably propulsive and darkly funny story.

Notes on Surviving the Fire follows Sarah Common, a PhD student in her seventh and final year studying violence within Buddhist traditions. After being assaulted by a fellow student, she keeps her head down; the cops and the university don’t believe her. People keep saying, “but he’s such a nice guy.” Sarah is different after her assault— angrier, unable to move on, unlikeable, wasting time fantasizing about revenge. Only Nathan, her best friend and confidant, believes what happened at the house party, what a fellow PhD student did that derailed her life. Then Nathan turns up dead and Sarah knows it was murder, but no one believes her. Again.

This time, Sarah will prove she’s right, tracking her best friend’s killer while California wildfires move closer and closer to campus. Smoke and ash fill the air and more students are found dead—all deemed suicides, but Sarah notices a disturbing pattern. Faced with the retribution she’s been lusting after all this time, Sarah must decide if revenge can ever be sweet.

About the author: Christine Murphy has lived, worked, and traveled in more than 100 countries, including living for 11 months in a tent across the African continent and a year as a resident in a Buddhist nunnery in the Himalayas. A trained Buddhologist, Murphy has a Ph.D. in religious studies. This is her first novel. She grew up in Hopkinton, NH, and lives in Portland, Maine.

If you go:

When: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26

Where: Gibson’s Bookstore, 45 South Main St., Concord