A Dangerous Friendship: A Novel

by Robin Merle

Overview

With dark humor, this women’s fiction novel is about obsessive friendship, secrets, and a life-changing summer in the wild 1980s of New York City.

In 1980s New York City, aspiring writers Tina and Spike bond in a complex, all-consuming friendship that will change their lives forever.

Desperate to redefine herself after a failed marriage, twenty-nine-year-old Tina embarks on a thrill-seeking journey to feel alive again. When she meets thirty-five-year-old Spike, a beautiful, seductive, seemingly invulnerable woman, she becomes enthralled by the older woman’s stories of NYC power brokers, sex, wealthy men, and her past. Tina latches on to Spike as someone who can save her from mediocrity and show her how to be the kind of woman who can have power over men—both in romance and in life.

Chasing adventure and the writing life, Tina and Spike rent a cabin together for the summer in the rural backwoods. There, they go on a wild, manic, darkly humorous journey involving dive bars, drugs, men, and all-night dancing, becoming increasingly psychologically entangled in each other’s lives along the way. But eventually Tina realizes just how dangerous Spike is, and is forced to act to save herself.

Filled with New York wit and fast-paced dialogue, this is a story of loss, betrayal, survival, and blurring the line between attraction and peril.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798896360032
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	10/28/2025
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320

About the Author

Robin Merle is the author of Involuntary Exit: A Woman’s Guide to Thriving After Being Fired. She has published short fiction in The Chouteau Review, South Carolina Review, Kalliope, and Real Fiction. She holds a master’s degree from The Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, where she earned a fellowship. In her other professional life, as a nonprofit executive, she has raised over a half-billion dollars in philanthropic support to improve individuals’ quality of life and access to opportunities. A longtime New Yorker, Robin now lives in Scarborough, Maine with her family.

Editorial Reviews

"Can a novel be cozy and corrosive at the same time? . . . Friendships and courtships grow, dissolve and explode, sometimes in the same day, but Merle uncorks her most powerful surprises in the seams of conflict."—Ben Neihart, author of Hey, Joe and Rough Amusements

From the Publisher

2025-07-23
An intense friendship between two women becomes emotionally dangerous in Merle’s 1980s-set novel.

Tina, a 29-year-old aspiring writer at the tail end of an unsatisfying marriage, meets a new female friend, known as Spike, at a writer’s retreat. From the start, she’s drawn to Spike’s audacity, energy, confidence, and wild stories—so much so that she views Spike as not merely a pal, but also a guide: “While I’m not a superstitious person, she did seem sent. As if the ripples in the lake finally calmed and in the limpid pool I saw the reflection of everything I denied I was or could be.” Their relationship deepens after they both return to New York City, become regular drinking buddies, and confide in each other about their relationships. Spike tells tales that often involve abuse and the threat of violence, and they initially thrill, but soon start to worry Tina; a violent work of fiction that Spike is revising also gives Tina pause. Soon, Tina starts to feel less like Spike’s friend, and more like a monitor of Spike’s changing moods—waiting to react to her, rather than acting on her own desires. She tries to extract herself from the friendship, but she fears it may already be too late. Merle charts the path of Tina’s mounting realization with a sensitive and perceptive portrayal of a writer who finds that Spike is a lot more fun as a lively, past-tense story than she is as a present-tense reality. Some of the male characters in the women’s lives are not as well drawn, but as the broad types they are, they work well enough in the context of the story. The dialogue, on the other hand, is uniformly sharp, sometimes funny, and keeps the story moving briskly along.

A smart, absorbing study of a spiraling, unhealthy relationship.

Kirkus Reviews