Stone Cold Fox Review + Interview

“Believe who you say you are and they will, too.”

Stone Cold Fox was the March book pick for the Salted Caramel Madams Book Club! I was very excited to read Rachel Koller Croft's debut novel and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

Synopsis

Bea is a shark-like woman, waiting for her next meal at all times. Her past is nothing but secrets. She is hard working and who knows what she wants and what she deserves. She has built a life that gives her everything she needs, and now her eyes are set on Collin Case. Collin’s family business is a client of Bea’s firm, so in order to date him she must be discrete. But secrets is her middle name.

Bea ends up meeting Collin’s friends, who mostly welcome her into the mix. However, Collin’s best friend, Gale, is not a fan of Bea. She knows that Bea is trouble and is willing to do anything she can to out her. But Bea likes the challenge, because all Bea does is win.

Collin’s new secretary, Syl, accidentally spills the beans about Collin and Bea’s relationship. This creates quite the drama for Bea in the workplace. Once their relationship is out in the open, Collin wants her to meet his family. The family is not thrilled to have someone who is not in their inner circle dating their son, but Bea doesn't care. She is in it for the opulent future.

But when plans go astray, Bea has to do what she does best: survive.

Review

Stone Cold Fox was written from Bea’s point of view throughout the whole book, with a handful of flashbacks throughout. The flashbacks proved insight into why Bea was the way she was. Bea’s past would be an excellent example of Nature Vs. Nurture. It was painful to read some of the flashbacks because of the toxic environment that Bea grew up in. Bea was written to be an unlikable character, but you quickly learn to understand her as you read through the flashbacks.

Her inner dialogue cracked me up, especially with all of her blunt thoughts. Bea thinks people must not care about keeping a man if their fingernails are not painted, or she finds warm and welcoming people irritating. I enjoyed her character development throughout the book, as the Bea on page one was not the same Bea by the very end.

As for the other characters in the book, I really enjoyed Collin, Collin’s sisters, Chloe and Calliope, and Syl. They were all easy to like even if Collin was painted as a very boring person. He was kind and loved Bea. Chloe and Calliope both welcomed her with open arms into their family. Syl became a friend to Bea, and really her only one. There was a storyline with a character named Dave Bradford that could have been left out. He was known as being a homewrecker, and was a temptation to Bea. While I think it did add to the story, it ended up just leaving more questions unanswered in the end.

The little twists and turns that transpired were perfect to keep readers hooked. The ending left me with so many questions, but even with all the questions, I really enjoyed this thriller. It took me a little longer to read since I was annotating it, but I still felt like I devoured it.

Interview

The SCM Book Club had the amazing opportunity to Zoom with Rachel Koller Croft and ask her all about her writing process and her debut novel. Here are a few of the questions we asked!

This is your debut novel. How is it going?

It's going really well. It is finding its ideal readers. I am really enjoying having it out in the world and hearing reactions. Good, bad and mixed. Because I feel like if you write something that everyone likes, how good can it be? I do not really take it too personally if someone says it was not for me.

Did you have a say in the cover of Stone Cold Fox?

I was very lucky that Berkely and my editor asked me for book covers I liked, movie stills, color schemes, just like an art guide. I really wanted a woman or a part of her or something on the cover, not an illustrated cover. I did not want blobs of color on the cover because that was very trendy for a while. I just really wanted a hot cover. A month goes by and I got an email with cover options. My husband and I were living in London and the email came through and I had been really sick. I opened it and this was the first one I saw. It was everyone's top choice. It was so stunning I screamed! It was beyond my wildest dreams!

How do you go about crafting a character that's not great, a little imperfect, but that readers are going to connect to and want to see succeed?

I go about it a few different ways. Personally I really like reading and watching villains. I don’t think it's because they’re bad people, I just like watching go getters. People who are going to put their foot on the gas and know what they want and they are going to go after it… I wanted to write a type A villain that we can hang out with and see what kind of mess they get into. [I asked] how am I going to make people want to hang out with her in the event that they don’t like her?

I came up as a comedy screenwriter, so I leaned into comedy where it felt appropriate and was going to make the book better. I made Bea very funny so that if people were not liking her, they could giggle with her and forgive some of her sins. In addition to that, I was going back and forth with flashback chapters, and I ultimately I decided to do a handful. I didn’t want to do every single one alternating, but had very specific moments. If I could show her experiences with Mother, that even if you didn’t like her, you would understand her and you know why she is the way that she is.

Who are your favorite authors?

JUDY BLUME . Gillian Flynn. Jacqueline Susann. Eve Babitz. Meg Wolitzer. Brit Bennett. Celeste Ng. Maggie O’Farrell. Douglas Stuart. I’m probably missing a bunch too but that’s a good start Oh! Jackie Collins!

While a prequel for Stone Cold Fox has crossed Rachel’s mind, she is working on another novel that we are hoping to see Summer 2024. Also some exciting news: Stone Cold Fox will be hopefully making its way to the screen in the future!!!

Quick Review:

Title: Stone Cold Fox

Author: Rachel Koller Croft

Genre📖: Thriller

Star Rating: ⭐ ⭐⭐⭐/5

Read if you enjoy: Kaira Rouda, Gillian Flynn, Paula Hawkins

Good Reads Rating: 3.8

Tropes: Unreliable Narrator