Devil Wears Prada meets Ready or Not in the best thriller of May 2026

Part Devil Wears Prada, part Ready Or Not, Rachel Moore’s upcoming novel Safari Murder Party (May 19) is far from your typical toe-curling, will-they-won’t-they office rival romance, which is exactly why it should be on your radar.

For three years, Fletcher Spence has worked tirelessly as the personal assistant to the terrifying CEO of Cartwright Media, all in the hopes of one day landing her dream job as a travel photographer. Sure, Fletcher works 70 hours a week, barely has a social life, and is engaged to a man she doesn’t actually love, but things could always be worse. Which is why Cartwright Media’s annual corporate retreat — a week away on a remote, private safari-park island — is the perfect opportunity for Fletcher to prove what an asset she is to the company, and why she deserves a promotion.

Fletcher’s plan takes a violent turn when her boss meets a sudden, gruesome death in a lion’s jaws, and his last will and testament are read, revealing that the staff member who survives the rest of the week will inherit Cartwright Media. Worse still, the only person who doesn’t seem to want to kill Fletcher, and who is willing to form a mutually beneficial alliance with her, is her boss’ infuriatingly handsome son, Waylon.

We spoke with Moore about her action-packed romance novel and whether all the kills that take place in Safari Murder Party made the cut.

Image: Penguin Random House

Polygon: Safari Murder Party is your adult debut. Did your approach to writing this book differ in any way from your young adult novels?

Rachel Moore: I definitely spent significantly more time pondering things like, “What other horrible ways to die are there?” than with my young adult novels. But even though it’s bloodier and steamier than anything I’ve written before, the process was largely the same. Try as we might to be mysterious or elusive, people aren’t that complex. Inside all of us are the 15-, 16-, 17-year-old versions of us, tucked away like nesting dolls. No matter our age, we all crave the same things: to be safe, to be loved, to not be eaten by lions. So, it’s not that different!

The novel is billed to readers as a romance novel, corporate satire, and thriller, and it has moments heavily inspired by slasher movies. What made you want to try and combine these genres?

I love soup. There is something so hearty and healing about a big, steaming bowl of a food made entirely from your favorite ingredients. That’s the same way I approach writing books. Safari Murder Party got all the high-octane, nonstop thrills of my favorite action-adventure movies and the rom-com heart I love and look for on shelves. Plus, writing a book is way cheaper than therapy, so it was a delightful outlet for raging against the corporate machine.

Safari Murder Party begins with a rather ominous quote from The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Cornell. Did anything in particular inspire you to give such an unsettling concept a romantic spin?

Especially in a book so preoccupied with greed and power, I wanted love to be the ever-triumphant primal force. To me, it’s the perfect counterbalance to all the snarky satire and gore. And also…I just love writing romances!

Besides The Most Dangerous Game, did any other specific thrillers or slashers inspire you?

I honestly am such a wimp. Slashers are pretty low on my watch list because I’m horribly squeamish, despite what you might find in Safari Murder Party. But I love, love, love the Knives Out franchise and the eerie workplace environment of Severance, and one of my favorite high-stakes rom-coms is The Blonde Identity by Ally Carter.

Safari Murder Party features a wide array of kills, ranging from comedic to downright mortifying. Did you write any that didn’t make the cut? Or any you were a bit worried about including?

I’ve been quite nervous because people really love hippos, but despite being herbivores, they are some of the deadliest animals on the planet, so all I’ll say is watch out for hippopotamuses.

Safari Murder Party is the first romance novel I can think of that includes a map. Can you talk to us about the process of bringing the island to life in this way?

I was absolutely thrilled when my team suggested we create a map of the fictional island where Safari Murder Party takes place. What started as a shoddy Canva mock-up on my part was turned into a lovely replica of the map Fletcher and Waylon abscond with from the manor’s cigar lounge by my publisher’s insanely talented design team. Even though this book is rooted in reality, it’s so campy and outrageous that it does have a sort of fantastical lean to it, and I think the map element really highlights that, which is so fun.

Do you have a favorite romance trope?

I’ll never tire of a bodyguard romance. There’s something about the forced proximity and watching contractual security turn into genuine protectiveness that makes me go completely feral. I haven’t written one yet in earnest (though Waylon and Fletcher certainly protect each other plenty in Safari Murder Party), but it’s on my author bucket list.

When readers first meet Waylon, he’s slinging drinks at a book bar in NYC. What would his and Fletcher’s go-to book and cocktail combo be?

Fletcher’s drink of choice is a Manhattan, and I fear she’d be curling up with the employee handbook, but I could also see her reading something by Ashley Poston—quietly believing in the possible magic of genuine love—as an audiobook while running errands across the city. Waylon’s been known to drink whiskey straight, and I think The Will of the Many by James Islington is definitely on his TBR.

If you were in Fletcher Spence’s shoes, would you forge an alliance with your coworkers, or strike out on your own?

I’m a renowned blabber, and I fall prey a bit too easily to FOMO, so the adage that “there’s power in numbers” would betray me here, I think, because I’d try my hand at an alliance. I’ve watched enough Survivor to know that sometimes it’s your own allies who turn on you.