Sooo creepy, and yet sooo deliciously good

books:


	• Helpless: A Novel Barbara Gowdy Metropolitan Books, 2007 - 307 pages average customer review:based on 8 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

I expected more...

I would have liked to have a little more character development of all the main adult characters, and a little less of how beautiful a child the child was who got kidnapped. It was a short book that could have been longer, and the story could have been a compelling one; instead, it fell short.

Sooo creepy, and yet sooo deliciously good

An incredibly disturbing story of a pedophile, his codependent addict lover, and the object of their obsession: Rachel. Beautiful, artistic, intelligent, and kind... Rachel is an "angel"... and she's nine years old. She's used to getting attention from men, especially the customer's at the bar where he mother performs. Rachel is poor but satisfied. She has friends, a mother, and a landlord who cares for her. (This landlord may even care for her a little too much, as one character witnesses landlord molesting Rachel.) The story centers around the obsession everyday people have for Rachel. Women wonder if she's related to her homely mother. Men give her a lot of attention and affection. Rachel is oblivious to any sort of pervy-ness. Will her abduction change her? The resolution is surprising.

The story is a mix of the past and present. We learn a little about her mother's life, what potential she had until a one-night stand with a college student from NYC. We also learn about the pedophile's dysfunctional life: dead mother, distant father, young lover. Pedophile's first sexual encounter is disgusting, and yet brilliantly constructed by Gowdy. Both the past and the present are absolutely chilling!!!

That these characters rely on psychic premonitions is superb. They all look so pathetic, especially the addict who clutches her "psychic pouch" in hopes of holding on to her worthless boyfriend. We see mother and landlord clinging to their psychic visions in hopes of finding Rachel.

We're left to make our own judgments about the mother, mostly through dialogues with a talk show host and callers. Is her mother "bad' for not maintaining relations with Rachel's father? Was their one-night stand, the result of which is Rachel, so horrible? And what about the thoughts of the pedophile? He actually believes he is doing the right thing by kidnapping Rachel. He sees the mother as "bad" for taking Rachel to bars, allowing her to touch men, leaving her with a pervy (?) landlord, etc. Although kidnapping and pedophilia are foul, is the pedohpile correct in his assessment of the mother? Gowdy gives us many things to think about.

Oh yes, this book is warped. And that's what made it so interesting to read. Gowdy does not tie up loose ends with a pretty bow. You are left to wonder what exactly happened to all of the characters. And you want more, but, all good books must come to an end. Sadly, because I wanted to know more about Rachel. And the pedophile and his girlfriend. I wanted to know if the landlord was really a child molester and if he really was gay. I wanted to know every little detail about every character; they were like a bunch of really twisted, pathetic new friends.

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Obsessive, Unhealthy Love.....

In this story, author Gowdy cleverly hints early on that Ron, one of the main characters, has an unhealthy sexual obsession for this young girl Rachel. His girlfriend Nance believes Ron's actions, albeit illegal, are innocent intentions to protect Rachel from child molesters; however, Ron begins to behave in ways that not only stir Nance's suspicions, but also remembrances of her own childhood experiences. I believe this story exemplifies the bizarre manisfestations a person's mind goes through, when the line between reality and fantasy no longer exist for them. Unfortunately, I didn't see the connection of his relationship with his mom and how that affects his viewpoint of women, love, and ruined childhoods. The story is an easy read, suspenseful, disturbing.

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It'll Grow on You

This books start out rather slowly and works its way under your skin until the final chapters that will have you on the edge of your seat. I almost gave up at the beginning of this sleeper hit. I just couldn't get into it. It was kind of boring and reminded me of other child abduction books...until midway through when the author hits her stride. The pace quickens, the characters become more realistic and likeable, and the plot takes off. There are several flashbacks in the book which explain the motives of the characters; and the alternating chapters make for quick and interesting transitions. I would highly recommend this book for readers above age 14, as there are several references to pedophilia and a couple of graphic (not too graphic) scenes that might offend some readers. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would like to read more by this author.

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reviews: page 1, 2

From the internationally acclaimed author of The White Bone and The Romantic, a haunting and suspenseful novel of abduction and obsessive love Nine-year-old Rachel Fox has the face of an angel, a heart-stopping luminosity that strikes all who meet her. Her single mother, Celia, working at a video store by day and a piano bar by night, is not always around to shield her daughter from the attention?both benign and sinister?that her beauty draws. Attention from model agencies, for example, or from Ron, a small-appliance repairman who, having seen Rachel once, is driven to see her again and again.
When a summer blackout plunges the city into darkness and confusion, Rachel is taken from her home. A full-scale search begins, but days pass with no solid clues, only a phone call Celia receives from a woman whose voice she has heard before but cannot place. And as Celia fights her terror and Rachel starts to trust in her abductor?s kindness, the only other person who knows where she is wavers between loyalty to the captor and saving the child. Will Rachel be found before her abductor?s urge to protect and cherish turns to something altogether less innocent?
Tapping into the fear that lies just below the surface of contemporary city life, Barbara Gowdy draws on her trademark empathy and precision to create a portrait of love at its most consuming and ambiguous and to uncover the volatile point at which desire gives way to the unthinkable.

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