A Book A Week

What is the last show that you binged? I recently ripped through season one of You on Netflix. I know I'm late to the party with this one, but wow was it a wild ride! I had a moment while watching the first episode where things began to feel a bit too familiar to me. Imagine my surprise when I realized that not only was the series based upon a book but that I had actually listened to the audiobook before. Never one to shy away from a book-based series, I did what any self-respecting bibliophile would do. I reread the book! Caroline Kepnes's novel was every bit as fun and twisted as I remembered it being. 

Joe Goldberg has quite the obsession. In fact, it is an obsession that many of us readers can probably relate to. Joe loves books. He's a voracious reader and has turned this passion into a career. Joe works at and runs a book store in New York's East Village, a place where he's made quite the comfortable life for himself. There isn't a ton of money in selling books, but this day job affords him the ability to collect and sell the rarest editions of classic novels. In the collection and preservation of these valuable works, Joe lets his obsession run wild. It is in the book store that Joe first lays eyes on Guinevere Beck, a gorgeous college student who is perusing his shelves. As she completes a purchase, Joe takes notice of her name on her credit card. Later that evening he Googles her name, and a new obsession is born. 

Think about how much information about a person you can find on the internet. Most of it is even willingly shared on the web through our use of social media. It isn't hard to imagine then the information about Guinevere Beck, or just Beck as her friends call her, that Joe is able to unearth. She posts about everything she does, a fact that Joe instantly uses to his advantage. The pair have an "unexpected" run-in at a bar, and things begin to kick into high gear. Joe's obsession with Beck sees him manipulate more encounters until he becomes her boyfriend. He will stop at nothing to become Beck's perfect man, even if that means resorting to the darkest of acts imaginable. 

It seems appropriate that I would kick off my October reading with a book like You. My love of horror runs deep, but with this novel, Caroline Kepnes presents a different kind of terror. There's an undercurrent of fear that runs through every moment of the book. Not the kind of classic fright that may immediately come to mind when thinking about this spooky season, but rather psychological suspense that will nonetheless chill you to the bone. Obsession of any kind can be potentially dangerous, but the infatuation behind the story in You is as uncomfortable to read about as it is enthralling to behold. As I did while reading Jeff Lindsey's Dexter novels, I often found myself feeling a bit guilty for enjoying the story of Joe as much as I did. Kepnes manages to make the reader empathize with and root for her demented main character, even as he sinks to the depths of his despicable delusions. You won't be for every reader, but if you too are looking for a creepy story that provides a unique kind of scare, this one just might do the trick. 

For more information visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads. 

(2021, 36)