Cruelty Free (Pre-Order Feb 3rd 2026)

Cruelty Free by Caroline Glenn Pre-Order Feb 3rd 2026

Darkly funny, razor-sharp, and deliciously vengeful, Cruelty Free by Caroline Glenn is a biting thriller and satirical take on celebrity, motherhood, and the beauty industry, perfect for fans of Monika Kim and Rachel Yoder. Once an A-list actress with a perfect life, Lila Devlin vanished from Hollywood after the unsolved kidnapping of her infant daughter destroyed both her family and her reputation. Hounded by tabloids, true-crime obsessives, and a public eager to assign blame, Lila retreated into anonymity—until now.

Ten years later, Lila returns to Los Angeles determined to reclaim her life and reinvent herself with a radical new cruelty-free skincare brand, created in honor of her missing daughter. Armed with forgiveness and a carefully curated comeback, she’s ready to move forward—until a vicious blogger crosses her path and ends up dead. In that moment, Lila realizes that revenge is far more satisfying than absolution.

With the help of her loyal publicist Sylvie, Lila embarks on a gleefully ruthless campaign through Hollywood, eliminating enemies and harvesting a gruesome new “secret ingredient” to fuel her company’s meteoric rise. As her business flourishes and she inches closer to uncovering the truth behind her daughter’s disappearance, Lila’s violent side hustle threatens to expose everything she has rebuilt.

A blood-soaked satire and a haunting exploration of grief, fame, and female rage, Cruelty Free skewers toxic beauty standards, celebrity culture, and society’s obsession with punishing mothers. By turns chilling and laugh-out-loud funny, Caroline Glenn’s ambitious debut announces a bold new voice in dark literary thrillers—one unafraid to ask how far a woman might go to reclaim power, justice, and herself.