Notes on Surviving the Fire

A Novel

By: Christine Murphy

Narrated by: Jesse Vilinsky

When Sarah’s only friend in her graduate program is found dead of an alleged heroin overdose, Sarah is forced back into the orbit of the man in their department who assaulted her. A hurtling ride of a novel—darkly funny and propulsive.

"A thriller’s bones, a satire’s glare, and a comeuppance story’s anarchic spirit.”—The New Yorker

"Wonderfully mordant. . . . It's one of the best depictions of how trauma cracks the psyche that I've read recently."—New York Times "Best Mystery Novels of 2025"

At a Ph.D. program in Southern California, Sarah and her best friend, Nathan, spend their time working on their theses, getting high, and keeping track of the poor air quality due to nearby forest fires. No one believes Sarah when she reports a fellow student for raping her at a party—“He’s such a good guy!”—and the Title IX office simply files away the information, just like the police. Nathan is the only person who cares.

When Sarah finds Nathan dead of an overdose from a drug he’s always avoided, she knows something isn’t right. She starts investigating his death as a murder, and as the pieces fall into place, she notices a disturbing pattern in other student deaths on campus.

As a girl, Sarah grew up in the forests of Maine, following her father on hunts, learning how to stalk prey and kill, but only when necessary. Now, she must confront a different type of killing—and decide if it can be justified.

Notes on Surviving the Fire is a story about vengeance, the insidious nature of rape culture, and ultimately, a woman's journey to come back to herself.

Critic reviews

“A righteous, angry, and riveting work of suspense . . . but the idiosyncratic narrative style is also mordantly funny, and it’s one of the best depictions of surviving trauma that I’ve seen in recent fiction.”
—New York Times "Best Mystery Books of 2025"

“The novel’s strength lies in Sarah’s duality . . . The narrative is equally layered, with a thriller’s bones, a satire’s glare, and a comeuppance story’s anarchic spirit.”
—The New Yorker

"Murphy has certainly written a furious, fast-paced, emotionally resonant and memorable novel. I’ll be thinking about this one for a while yet.”
—Los Angeles Times

“A wild horse of a plot . . . Fiery on many levels . . . An author to watch.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“A biting, savage, unflinching story of how the culture of sexual assault is systemically tolerated and tucked out of sight into the dark corners of ivory towers. Part campus satire, part murder mystery, and most importantly a tale of formidable survival, Notes on Surviving the Fire asks: who among us is a perpetrator, and how do we keep on living once we know? Christine Murphy writes with the nimbleness of a hunter: muscularly and with precision, while also propelled by undercurrents of cold, simmering fury and hot, big-hearted empathy.”
—Aube Rey Lescure, author of River East, River West

“Murphy’s emotional, riveting suspense novel is sure to stick with readers for a long time.”
—Booklist

“A bold and complex thriller that tackles rape culture and academic bureaucracy with a pinch of Buddhist philosophy . . . Murphy establishes a convincing sense of psychological realism while making salient points about the challenges women face in the aftermath of sexual violence . . . Those in the mood for more challenging fare will be rewarded.
—Publishers Weekly

Mixed Feelings

I picked this up after reading about it in The New Yorker. It was a tough read—not because it was bad, but because of the graphic depictions of sexual assault combined with the main character’s drug-induced episodes, which at times felt disorienting. The plot had promise, but for reasons I can’t quite pinpoint, it kept losing me. Maybe it was the fragmented flashbacks or the drug haze sequences, which made it hard to stay grounded in the story.

That said, I did finish it in just a couple of days. I also found the narrator’s “voices” for other characters more distracting than helpful—noticeable, but not enough to ruin the experience. I genuinely wanted to like this more than I did. It had all the makings of a strong thriller, and for a debut, Christine Murphy shows real talent. I’ll likely give her another shot

Tedious repetitive and often vulgar.

I got half way through this and realized i couldn't listen any longer. Too much.

Not an easy listen but strangely compelling

Unsettling and emotionally draining, though clearly by design. Should probably come with trigger warnings. Still, a brilliant debut.

Dark, apocolyptic, then unexpected

I carry the mood of books around me when I'm reading one. This was a tough mood to carry. But I thought it was very good. Very different. The unexpected twist at the end brought it to a new level of weirdness, and I appreciated that.

The narrator was excellent with voices and elocution of that age group of Americans/Californians. Really impressive

fast paced & twisty

the narration for this book was perfect. it's very fast paced and had me hooked from the start. it also has a roller coaster of emotional spectrums and lots of twists & turns. really enjoyed it and looking forward to more from the author.