The Ex
-
-
3.5 • 2 Ratings
-
-
- $4.99
-
- $4.99
Publisher Description
David and Molly Jones live with their three-year-old son Michael on Manhattan's Upper West Side. David works at a prestigious New York literary agency. Molly is a freelance copyeditor. They are devoted to their son and secure in their love for each other.
Then Deirdre Grocci invades their lives.
Once upon a time, she was David's wife. Their relationship was marked by kinky, violent sex and Deirdre's unsettling mood swings. That was over five years ago. David hasn't thought much about his ex since then.
But his ex has been thinking about him...
Leaving a trail of shocking violence behind her, she has moved across the country just to be near David again. Soon, she has moved into the Joneses' apartment building. Made friends with Michael. And begun to convince Molly that she is losing her mind.
Most dangerous of all, she lures David back into a world of addictive sex he both craves and fears.
Deirdre won't be content to be the other woman forever. She wants David back. This time, for keeps. But there's one force she didn't reckon on: David's wife. To hold on to her family, her sanity, and her life. Molly is willing to go to hell and back.
Played out against the teeming backdrop of modern urban life—with all its hidden perils and sudden, random violence—THE EX grabs you and doesn't let go until the explosive climax. With this novel, John Lutz proves once again that he is the undisputed master of spine-tingling, edge-of-your-chair suspense.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
He's won an Edgar Award and several Shamus Awards (including, in 1995, a Lifetime Achievement Award), but Lutz (Burn, 1995) isn't likely to collect any prizes for this brisk but lightweight and predictable psychothriller. Anyone who's seen the movies Fatal Attraction or Single White Female (the latter filmed from Lutz's novel SWF Seeks Same) will anticipate many of this novel's twists and turns, which follow Hollywood's formula for stalk-and-slash stories; in fact, this work is based on a screenplay of the same title that's currently in production from producer/director Mark Lester. The villain here is ravishing redhead Deirdre Chandler, who, after killing a guard while escaping from a state mental institution, heads for Manhattan and her ex-husband, literary agent David Jones. Never mind that David has remarried; in no time, Deirdre works her way back into his life, moving into his apartment building and serving as the new babysitter for his son, Michael, after she kills off the old one. David's sweet young wife, Molly, wrinkles her nose at Deirdre early on, but before she can take action the femme fatale has kidnapped Michael, leading to a familiar climax, awash in blood. Characterization throughout is simple but convincing, particularly David's self-loathing as he falls in sexual thrall to Deirdre. Lutz offers a few over-the-top scenes, including a coupling in a funeral parlor, to spice up the story; but what he's serving here is yesterday's meal all the same.
Customer Reviews
Great Read
This is now the 5th Lutz novel I’ve read and it’s been difficult to get to my own writing done because I buy another book. They’re hard to put down and prove to be easy flowing, quick reads.
Inspirational and entertaining!