Boom Town by Nic Stone: Review

Welcome to my review of Boom Town by Nic Stone! Anything set in Atlanta I want to read, and the description of this one definitely piqued my interest.

Title: Boom Town
Author: Nic Stone
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pub Date: 10/14/25

Description

Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl meets P-Valley in Nic Stone’s adult thriller debut about two missing erotic dancers from Atlanta’s most notorious gentlemen’s club and the woman committed to finding them.

When Damaris “Charm” Wilburn, a new daytime dancer, is missing for her shift at Boom Town, former headliner Michah “Lyriq” Johanssen suspects something more than a “no call, no show.” As Lyriq’s former headline partner and lover—Felice “Lucky” Carothers—also vanished under similar circumstances, Lyriq decides she’s going to find them.

Delving deeper into Charm and Lucky’s disappearances, Lyriq uncovers a tangled web of deceit, privilege, and power. The line between friend and foe blurs, forcing Lyriq to confront the question: Is finding for these women worth the threat to her own life?

This tantalizing thriller will take you on a heart-pounding and page turning journey through the peaks and valleys of Atlanta’s underworld.

Review

Besides her story in Blackout, Boom Town was my first Nic Stone book. It was a very quick read, and I enjoyed the fast pacing, especially because the plot had me on the edge, and I needed to get to the bottom of everything. Most of the characters were villains in their own way, but some were way worse than others, and I liked seeing that complexity. The way the storylines intersected blew my mind, and I never would have guessed how things turned out. It did take me a little bit of time to get adjusted to Lyriq’s voice though. I watched Beauty in Black while reading this, and it was actually kind of the perfect pairing, as both highlighted the power and pitfalls of the adult entertainment industry. I hope Nic Stone has more adult books in the work because I’d read another.

*Thank you to Simon and Schuster for the free copy for review. All opinions are my own.*

Author

Nic Stone is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin. A Spelman College graduate, Nic lives in Atlanta with her family. Boom Town is her first adult novel.