Helpless
A Novel
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- 16,99 €
Publisher Description
A NEW YORK TIMES, OPRAH DAILY, CRIME READS, TOWN & COUNTRY, AND BOOKPAGE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK!
From the New York Times bestselling author of Luckiest Girl Alive and Bright Young Women comes a "sexy new thriller" (New York Post) with a "shocking and mindbending" (SheReads) last page.
It's been twelve years since Faye Heron broke Henry Spalding's heart. Henry was her college boyfriend, her first love, but Faye was in danger of being subsumed by him and the intensity of their connection—a connection that took her beyond boundaries she'd only dreamed of crossing.
Now, Faye is one half of a power-producing duo with her Hollywood husband. Henry is a married father running the family business. On the surface, both of their lives have essentially gone to plan.
When a former and beloved college professor suddenly passes away, Faye and Henry find themselves back on campus for the funeral, circling something old and dangerous. Something, if Faye is honest with herself, she has been trying to duplicate for years. But Henry is one of a kind.
The kind who delivers a hypnotic apology for the way things ended.
The kind who suggests they go back to the hotel for a drink.
The kind who drugs and kidnaps her.
When Faye comes to Henry’s remote mountain cabin, she’s beside herself. Has Henry brought her here to punish her? She did, after all, write and star in a lauded episode of television based on their indelicate appetites and vicious breakup. As her week of captivity unfolds, Henry’s wanton demands intensify, and Faye finds herself pulled back into his irresistible gravity. But as Faye and Henry spiral into their old dynamic, a sprawling, years-old mystery begins to take shape—one that will rewrite history as Faye remembers it and reveal an astounding, cataclysmic truth.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Darkness and desire are locked in an irresistible embrace in this provocative thriller from Jessica Knoll. Faye has risen to the top as a Hollywood producer, especially since she wrote and starred in an acclaimed TV episode based on her own, shall we say, complicated relationship with her ex, Henry. When she and Henry are suddenly reunited at the funeral of a beloved professor, it’s undeniable that there’s something still there between them…something so strong that he drugs and kidnaps her. Knoll fills the pages with tension of every kind, as Faye tries to understand what Henry claims to be “protecting” her from at his remote cabin. Secrets from their past begin to surface, forcing her to question the story she’s told herself about their history together. Through it all, the toxic, dysfunctional, searingly hot spark between them had us uncertain what we wanted to happen next—but desperate to find out what it would be. You’ll want to savour the twist at the end of this mystery.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A Hollywood heavyweight's reunion with her former flame turns dangerous in this provocative if problematic page-turner from bestseller Knoll (Bright Young Women). Actor/writer/director Faye Heron returns to her alma matter in the Adirondacks for the first time in 12 years to speak at the funeral of her mentor, film professor Patrick Toner. In attendance is Patrick's hunky nephew, Henry Spalding, a college ex of Faye's whom she's never completely gotten over. Despite Faye's enviable career and marriage to her writing/producing partner, all it takes is one look into Henry's ink-blue eyes to arouse her dormant, decade-old lust. But instead of the X-rated romp Faye fantasizes about, she wakes up woozy and locked inside Henry's isolated cabin. At first blush, it seems like Faye is in dire straits. But is she? Kidnapping, blackmail, and murder enter the frame as Knoll unfurls her devious tale, but the high degree of gamesmanship between the leads makes it increasingly difficult to distinguish between real danger and role-play. The whiplash-inducing twists are fun for a while, but the plot's uncomfortable sexual dynamics eventually become a liability, and Faye and Henry feel more like plot devices than three-dimensional characters. Readers will hope Knoll's next outing marks a return to form.
