A Beach Read with a Killer Twist

This week we’re talking with Stephanie Cooper—associate publisher and director of marketing for Dutton, Plume, and Tiny Reparations Books—about Amy Chozick’s WITH FRIENDS LIKE YOU, on sale on July 21, 2026. WITH FRIENDS LIKE YOU was excerpted in Buzz Books 2026: Spring/Summer.

Here’s the original deal announcement:

A darkly funny, gripping thrill ride that defies all expectations—a story of feverish obsession, new motherhood, and a fractious friendship pushed to the edge—from New York Times-bestselling author, screenwriter, showrunner, and journalist Amy Chozick.

With the propulsive read and a chance to break out bestselling author Amy Chozick’s fiction debut, we started our buzz campaign from a very early point, setting up plenty of strategic pre-pub advertising across industry and consumer publications and sites, including submitting this for the PubLunch Buzz Books sampler. We also shared galleys with bookish influencers at key reader Cons, including Emerald City Comic Con and BookCon, and we have a robust social influencer campaign in the works, with eye-catching, book-branded packages going out very soon with early finished copies of WITH FRIENDS LIKE YOU to influencers and VIPs in Amy’s extensive network to help us spread the word.

Not entirely unexpected since we all loved this read in-house, but we’ve had an incredible lineup of rave blurbs from bestselling authors who similarly couldn’t put this book down and who were blown away by the ending, including: Ashley Audrain, Andrea Bartz, Laura Dave, Jessica Knoll, Jo Piazza, and Maria Semple. Plus, we’ve been seeing this title included in multiple summer must-read round-ups, from Us Weekly to Goodreads, and beyond—and we expect much more ahead!

WITH FRIENDS LIKE YOU is the beach book you will read in one sitting with a killer twist that will leave you reeling in the best jaw-dropping way. It will also make you want to reconnect with the friend who has been with you through everything. Also, read the book before it hits the big screen!

WITH FRIENDS LIKE YOU by Amy Chozick is forthcoming from Dutton on July 21, 2026. Preorder here or request on Netgalley here.

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