Evil Eye: Four Novellas of Love Gone Wrong
Oates adds to her treasury of diabolical tales (The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares, 2011; Black Dahlia & White Rose, 2012) a quartet of shrewd and unnerving novellas about toxic entanglements. In the stylishly gothic title story, the legendary director of a performing arts institute swoops in and makes a much younger researcher shattered by the deaths of her parents his fourth wife, installing her in his fastidiously appointed showcase house, where her inchoate fears about his soul-freezing temper crystallize upon meeting his disfigured first wife. Oates has a superbly disconcerting gift for orchestrating slowly coalescing realizations that something is horribly wrong, as in 16-year-old Lizbeth’s reluctant recognition that her polite, Polaroid-snapping boyfriend may, in fact, be dangerous. In other subtly sinister, adeptly paced scenarios, a failing frat boy high on Ritalin and video-game fantasies turns murderous, and a frigid young woman identifies her childhood abuser. Oates’ deft tales of vulnerable women with surprisingly deep reservoirs of strength and a capacity for revenge are infused with wry and knowing commentary on the battle between the sexes, the justice system, and the consequences of entitlement.       HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Readers are always ready for new dark tales by best-selling Oates, and this potent volume will gain added visibility given all the attention surrounding her latest novel, The Accursed. --Donna Seaman