Keep Your Friends Close

An explosive dark academia thriller set in the world of the BookTok sensation Win Lose Kill Die, where secret societies and lethal ambition run the show.

"A thriller author to watch!"--Karen M. McManus, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying

Chloe Roberts is on top of the world. After a stellar first year at the prestigious Morton Academy, she's a shoo-in for Head Girl and a coveted position in the school's secret society, Jewel and Bone. But her dreams are shattered when her best friend, Nikhita Patel, unfairly snatches the top spot--and steals Chloe's boyfriend at the same time.

Heartbroken and humiliated, Chloe discovers a shocking truth: Jewel and Bone isn't as secret as she thought. The rest of the school despises the Jewels, and there's even a "Book of Crime and Punishment" cataloging their misdeeds. Things take a very dark turn when the names in the book start to correlate with murders of Jewel and Bone members on campus. Suddenly, anyone could be a suspect.

And now, Chloe must navigate a web of lies and deceit to get to the bottom of this twisted game before she's next on the kill list.

Keep Your Friends Close is a gripping thriller that explores the dark side of ambition, loyalty, and the lengths people will go to claim what's theirs.

Author: Cynthia Murphy
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 09/02/2025
Pages: 384
Weight: 0.61lbs
Size: 8.19h x 5.43w x 0.94d
ISBN: 9780593805787


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 07/15/2025
Booklist 08/01/2025

About the Author
Cynthia Murphy is the author of Win Lose Kill Die, Last One to Die, The Midnight Game, and Signed Sealed Dead. She has had a long-standing love affair with all things scary. Cynthia is married to her best friend and they are ruled by a Romanian rescue dog called Loli.