Paper Cut by Rachel Taff

EVERYBODY KNOWS THE STORY. NOBODY KNOWS THE TRUTH…

Lucy Golden is a true crime icon, infamous for killing someone as a teenager while escaping a California cult led by her father.

Twenty years later, still coasting on the original success of the memoir she wrote after her acquittal, Lucy knows that her story is always just once news cycle away from obscurity, even as online trolls are asking questions that threaten to tear her life apart.

So when a hot-shot documentary filmmaker decides to make her case his next subject, Lucy sees a chance to silence her doubters once and for all.

As filming begins, and she returns to face her own past trauma in the California desert, long-buried secrets collide with present-day threats. Just how far will Lucy go to protect the story she’s been telling – and selling – all along?

Malibu Rising meets The Girls in a literary thriller that interrogates our culture’s obsession with true crime, fame and notoriety, as well as the insidious nature of cults and toxic mother-daughter relationships. The perfect Book Club read.

About the Author: Rachel Taff is an author and television producer. Most recently, Rachel was the Director of Development at Dynamic Television, known for Ginny and Georgia, where she sold projects to Amazon and Hallmark. Previously, Rachel worked for Emmy-winning director Thomas Schlamme’s Shoe Money Productions, where she developed projects for FX and managed a production slate including Snowfall and The Plot Against America. After a decade in Los Angeles, she now lives in Atlanta with her husband and their Portuguese water dog. Paper Cut is her first novel.

05 Feb 2026
 

Paper Cut by Rachel Taff ISBN 9781805461975