Put a Bow on That from James W. Ziskin

Do you prefer endings that solve everything neatly, or ones that leave moral or emotional questions unresolved—and have you ever changed an ending because you were afraid of reader backlash?

 

 

Thinking about this week’s question, I came to the realization that lots—if not most—of novels leave elements unresolved. Gone are the days of “they all lived happily ever after.” Unless you’re talking about a series, most books leave questions at the end.

Take Gone with the Wind. “After all, tomorrow is another day” is hardly a pat conclusion. It suggests that there’s more to come for Scarlett, and we’re not sure how things will turn out for her.

The Grapes of Wrath ends not with the Joads settled into a new life, but sheltering in a barn with a starving old man. What happens to them when the rain lets up? We’re left wondering if their wandering will ever end.

But why do novels leave us asking questions? Because it’s smart. It’s art imitating life. A story only truly ends if all the characters are dead. Nothing more to see here. I mentioned the happily-ever-after endings above. There was a time for those, but the post-modern era isn’t it. Just as we no longer gambol around the maypole to the lute and viola da gamba. (Except at Renaissance fairs.) Remember when bell-bottoms were in fashion? Tastes change, and book endings aren’t immune.

Which brings me to the endings of my own stories. Since the Ellie Stone books are a series, the endings are neatly tied up The questions related to the crimes are resolved, even if Ellie might have issues remaining in her own arc. Bombay Monsoon, on the other hand, ends with a major teaser and lots of questions. You’ll just have to read it.

In less than a week (July 28, 2026), my ninth novel, THE PRANK, hits the shelves. It’s Christmas in July! Here’s the set-up: A middle school teacher is accidentally killed by a prank carried out by his students, setting in motion a series of fateful events that threatens to tear a community apart. 

You might be tempted to think I was inspired by the recent tragedy in Georgia involving a high school teacher killed accidentally by a student prank. (Truth is stranger than fiction.) Yes, that’s the same inciting incident that sets my story in motion, after all. Not a typical opening for a crime novel. And yet, the horrific story from Georgia happened four years after I started writing this book. I remember telling my students about it at the time. They loved the idea, and all wanted me to name the characters after them.

So what about THE PRANK? Does it end with everything tied up in a bow? I’m going to plead the Fifth. You’ll have to read it to find out.

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THE PRANK…enigmatic and unnerving. The pace never flags for a second. This is some masterly plotting. I loved it.”

—Liz Nugent, author of Strange Sally Diamond

 

“The Holdovers meets The Bad Seed,”

THE PRANK. A picture clipped from Playboy magazine, a missing Swiss Army Knife, and a prank gone terribly wrong conspire to make Christmas 1968 a deadly holiday to remember.

From two-time Edgar Award finalist, Anthony, Barry, and Macavity award-winner James W. Ziskin, THE PRANK releases July 2026.

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