Calling Mr Lonely Hearts A Novel Laura Benedict 9780345497697 Books
Download As PDF : Calling Mr Lonely Hearts A Novel Laura Benedict 9780345497697 Books
Calling Mr Lonely Hearts A Novel Laura Benedict 9780345497697 Books
3 girls invoke an old ritual, which the dominant one inflicts on the weakest one - to get a perfect lover. Years pass, and careers diverge, but soon a mysterious man starts to dominate each of their lives. It gets quite scary. The characters are depicted well, the story is told well, and the ending is quite appropriate. An enjoyable and chilly book.Tags : Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts: A Novel [Laura Benedict] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Three childhood friends. A malicious lie. One hell of a consequence. Growing up, Roxanne, Del,Laura Benedict,Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts: A Novel,Ballantine Books,0345497694,Thrillers - General,Clergy;Fiction.,Devil;Fiction.,Revenge;Fiction.,AMERICAN MYSTERY & SUSPENSE FICTION,Clergy,Devil,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction - Thriller,Fiction General,Fiction Thrillers General,GENERAL,General Adult,Revenge,Suspense,United States
Calling Mr Lonely Hearts A Novel Laura Benedict 9780345497697 Books Reviews
Laura Benedict writes in the manner in which Bryan Ferry sings there is a light, almost airy touch on the surface of her narrative, one that almost masks the sensuality, decadence and subtle terror of what lies beneath. When you begin reading CALLING MR. LONELY HEARTS, Benedict's latest work, I suggest Ferry's "Slave to Love" on repeat as your background music. Not that the novel needs any accompaniment it's pitch-perfect on its own, an addictive and haunting wonder.
One might think from the title that Benedict has written a chick-lit novel. While it shares some of the elements of that genre --- following bffs from adolescence into adulthood, documenting joy and heartbreak --- it does so only superficially. Instead, this book will scare you, keep you up all night, and set every nerve in your body on edge and on fire. It is as if Benedict set out to complete the job left undone by Stephen King, John Updike, and yes, maybe even Dante Alighieri. There are elements of all three here, yet Benedict's tale remains as unique and original as anything you have read recently.
CALLING MR. LONELY HEARTS begins with three friends on the cusp of adolescence Roxanne is advanced beyond her years, aware of the power of her awakening sexuality; Alice is a needy satellite caught in her orbit; and Del provides an uneasy counterbalance and buffer of relative normality between the two. The girls participate in a ceremony intended to bring to each of them a true and perfect love. Their individual destinies are decided not by this innocent, almost childish ritual (though it has an influence) but rather by an act of seduction involving Father Romero, a young Catholic priest who teaches at a Catholic girls' school and who hides a prior sin under a strong faith but whose passions become put to ill use. Romero's unwilling but ultimately headlong rush into sin leads to a further betrayal and the end of his vocation, a state of affairs for which he is not blameless but rather a victim as much of his own weakness as he is of the girls' guile.
Disgraced, Romero leaves behind the school, the priesthood --- and a situation that he will not learn of for decades. Meanwhile, Del, Roxanne and Alice remain in contact as they attain adulthood, though they lead very different lives. Del is married to a widower with a child and is overwhelmed, if happily so, with the responsibilities. Roxanne is a successful artiste and, while eschewing permanent relationships, has never met a husband she couldn't seduce. Alice is on the cusp of a failed marriage to a successful dentist who is about to leave her for a woman who is pregnant with his child.
Romero, teaching at a faraway community college, meets Varick, an enigmatic creature who is willing to give Romero the revenge he craves against the friends, in return for the ultimate price his life. Romero, seduced in the present as he was in the past, readily agrees. Varick gradually insinuates himself into the lives of each of the women in very different ways but with increasingly horrific results. It is fascinating to watch Varick work his purposes with the women --- a process that begins quite early in the book --- particularly with Alice, who is all too willing to do Varick's diabolical bidding, even if it means destroying the lives of innocents.
CALLING MR. LONELY HEARTS is a reminder that evil rarely needs to rudely intrude into our lives; in most instances, it is invited to enter, even welcomed and embraced, though not always recognized for what it is. Benedict's chilling narrative is by turns subtle, chilling and hauntingly erotic, as it describes events both horrific and surprisingly redemptive. Most importantly, however, from beginning to end it is as irresistible and unforgettable as a gentle, unexpected kiss from a lovely, attractive stranger first spied across a crowded room --- one that will take root in your memory and never leave.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Once upon a time there were three little angels and they had a boss named Charlie. No-wrong story, but in a departure from her previous novel, Isabella Moon, this one does feature three little Cincinnati girls, friends since childhood whey-faced, whiny Alice, who is cushioned from reality by her family's money; Roxanne, a precocious, artistic child who comes from a troubled background; and regular old Del, kind-hearted and loyal to a fault. The girls attend Catholic school, indulging in the usual fantasies, even performing a secret ritual in the woods to call forth the man of their dreams, dark-haired, devastatingly attractive, irresistible. But life moves on and years later the three friends have established separate lives, although still close. Unfortunately, Alice's marriage has failed, her husband leaving to settle in with his pregnant office manager. No one is surprised Alice has become brittle and discontented, even more self-obsessed than she was as a girl. Del has recently married a wealthy widower with a small daughter; and Roxanne, ever independent, enjoys great success as a sculptor, with many male admirers.
Then a stranger comes to town, a handsome, dark-haired man, Varick, with a slight European accent. After a minor accident, Varick befriends the unfortunate who plows into the back of his luxury sedan, nearly totaling the other's far-inferior Ford Escort. The driver of the Escort is a very unsavory young man, Dillon, whose face is marred by metal studs and tattoos. Varick offers Dillon a ride and thus begins a series of events that touch the lives of the three friends in an entirely unpredictable manner as the secrets of the past are revealed, along with the beginnings of a great reckoning. We learn that when the girls were thirteen, their actions brought about a world of trouble for a Cuban priest with a great burden on his soul. Father Romero was an object of their obsession for a time, only to lose his reputation on one fatal afternoon. A haunted, troubled man, Romero sought refuge through the years in depravity, unable to find a place for himself, finally returning to Cincinnati, where it all began.
In some ways, this book reminds me of Stephen King's Christine, although certainly without King's panache and skills. Benedict is no master wordsmith, but she has assembled a grotesque tale of innocence lost and evil resurgent, dipping into the darkest recesses of the human soul, where good and evil battle. Some of the characters- Alice, Dillon, Romero- become caricatures, their bodies and appetites showing the ravages of their struggles. But there is no refuge for the innocent in this story, a redundant eroticism that falls easily into cliché. Even the mysterious Varick, whether real or a creature of the imagination, is straight from the most hellish nightmare of evil incarnate, growing ever more handsome with each new destruction. Benedict does touch on something here, a hidden nerve that triggers the mordant fears that send people running for solace to church, Santeria, some appeasement to evade that furious gaze of judgment. Deeply creepy, jumbled as a Day of the Dead skeleton and a bit too close to that ugliness we all know exists. Luan Gaines/2008.
This book arrived promptly and in perfect condition. I would buy again from this seller!
A roller coaster ride. I didn't want to put it down because I had no idea what was going to happen on the next page. It was dark and creepy in a really good way!!
If you are looking for a well-written, gripping summer read that is on the darker side, this wonderful novel by Laura Benedict is just the ticket! It will keep you turning page after page.
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3 girls invoke an old ritual, which the dominant one inflicts on the weakest one - to get a perfect lover. Years pass, and careers diverge, but soon a mysterious man starts to dominate each of their lives. It gets quite scary. The characters are depicted well, the story is told well, and the ending is quite appropriate. An enjoyable and chilly book.
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