Review: I Knew As I Soon As I Started Reading Book That It Would At Best Be Just Another "So-So" Book
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 05 30, 2014
Book centers primarily around 4 characters (a psychopath, a woman with whom the psychopath is obsessed, the boyfriend of the 'stalked woman" - who happens to be a psychologist, and the ex-wife of the boyfriend) with 2 important peripherals (the psychopath's mother and a private investigator).  The plot essentially revolves the psycho's abduction of the two women - and how the boyfriend and investigator go about rescuing the women.  Obviously, there's nothing particularly imaginative here - nor does the author's writing style elevate it into anything more - with the exception of one "little twist" near the book's end that helps explain what might be some of the psycho's underlying motivations.  None of the characters were particularly interesting - and the characterization of Alan, the psychologist boyfriend, felt "off" - or maybe he just represented what was an all-too real portrayal or a not particularly effective therapist, who was not totally in control of his own life.  And the book's plot moved somewhat slowly - building to an ending that was left a bit unfinished in terms of where the surviving characters were headed..  (One of the book's underlying issues centered around Alan's strong feelings against parenthood - a commitment (along with his alcoholism) that led not only to his divorce, but was serving as a major obstruction in his current relationship with the girlfriend.  There was also some slight controversy/tension re the role the former wife still had in Alan's life.  Though the book ended with the three characters all seeming to be on good terms, Alan's future with regard to whether he would overcome his aversion to fatherhood was left a bit unclear - & thus the future the relationships also were left unclear.)  Given my misconceptions at the very beginning of this book, I am not sure why I continued to read it --- other than I seem to have lately been reading a lot of "so-so" books, and even out-right "stinkers". In summary, (except for the two observations following this),  all I can really say is reading it was a "time passer".  Two Observations:  (1) Fairly early on in the story, one of Mary's (the ex-wife's) fingers supposedly gets cut off by the psycho.  Altho the book references this event more than once, when we actually "see" Mary, both during and after her abduction, there is no indication she is missing a finger .  You would think such a disfigurement would merit some type of complaint from the victim - but "nada" was provided.  My question is "was it her finger that was cut off" - &, if so, why did the author overlook tying this "mutilation" back into the story?  (2)  The book's title is a total mystery to me.  Maybe, I'm taking it too literally - but, while there was an abduction, there were no ransom demands - and the only "dreams" had to do with several of the characters unfulfilled desire to have children.