The Boyfriend from Hell [Hardcover]

Avery Corman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2, 2006

Avery Corman blends the spirit of "Sex and the City" with the terror of "Rosemary's Baby" in this romantic psychological thriller. A highly praised observer of contemporary life and author of Kramer vs. Kramer and A Perfect Divorce, Corman zeroes in on single life, modern stress, and religious faith in The Boyfriend From Hell.
Veronica Delaney, single, in her twenties, a freelance writer, while working on an article becomes involved with a dazzling, charismatic man, and she is turned inside out. With his unique storytelling gifts, Avery Corman creates a wonderful, identifiable female character whose circumstance parallels that of so many women... and then it begins to turn. Is this boyfriend a typically uncommitted male or is he hiding something? Is he wonderfully supportive or is he excessively manipulative? Is he dramatically high-maintenance or is he inherently evil? From this insightful novelist, here is a spellbinding tale that is true-to-life, deeply involving, and ultimately, terrifying.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This occult thriller from the author of Kramer vs. Kramer begins as a tidy, well-paced tale of New York City dating life. Veronica "Ronnie" Delaney, a beautiful 24-year-old freelance journalist, has just lost her chef boyfriend to a cabaret singer's charms and the semi-stardom of a cable show. On the professional front, Ronnie gets an assignment to investigate the Dark Angel Church, a local satanic cult. The handsome, creepy cult leader, Randall Cummings, seems like perfect inappropriate boyfriend material, but Ronnie passes him over, and she meets the gorgeous Richard Smith, author of a history of Satanism and just too good to be true. Soon, she finds herself implicated in a murder, begins to lose her cool and leads the novel through a rapid series of unconvincing events that bring the story to a predictable close. The author is excellent with small details of setting and of personality, though the section set in an apparently pre-Katrina New Orleans is oddly anachronistic.
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From Booklist

Corman, best known as the author of the novel that was adapted into the Oscar--winning film Kramer vs. Kramer, introduces a little hint of the supernatural into his latest book. While working on a story about a satanic cult, magazine journalist Veronica McBride hooks up with a cult expert who seems like the ideal man--until Ronnie begins to learn that "too good to be true" is a phrase you ignore at your own peril. Corman's typically straightforward, unadorned writing style perfectly complements the offbeat, slightly eerie material and keeps the story from making an unwanted segue from realism into fantasy. Another winner from a writer who should be far more widely read than he is. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (May 2, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312349793
• ISBN-13: 978-0312349790
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,924,834 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Devil Made Me Do It!, June 22, 2008

By 

Laurel-Rain Snow "Rain" "Rainy Days" (Fresno, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Boyfriend from Hell (Hardcover)

From the author of "Kramer vs. Kramer", comes this suspenseful tale of the occult, mixed in with modern urban life.

A freelance writer living in Manhattan, Veronica Delaney thrives on her work. And apparently, she becomes obsessed with it, when, after writing a piece about Satanic cults, she literally takes her work home with her. One of her interviews is with a slick, charming man who lectures on Satanism. Emotionally remote, he wins her over with his persuasive abilities and sexual presence. They begin an affair. He tends to travel a lot for his work, but just when Veronica (Ronnie) almost gives up on him, he seems to reappear...continually.

Then a startling combination of events turns Ronnie's world on end. Ronnie receives a series of bizarre "threats"...dead cats, pictures of herself decapitated...and then the cult leader whom she first interviewed is murdered (strangely enough, right after she has met with him and during a mysterious black out). Meanwhile, Ronnie has contracted to write a book on Satanic possession, after which she seemingly disappears into the world of the occult...mentally and emotionally.

One bizarre happening after another brings Ronnie to a place of rapid disintegration. How she copes with it all leaves the reader rapidly turning pages, eager to find out what happens in the end.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth Reading!, June 4, 2006

By 

bobbewig (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Boyfriend from Hell (Hardcover)

I've read all but one of Avery Corman's books and they have all been worth reading. His skills in character development, dialogue, setting and pacing make Corman's books hard to put down, and his latest, The Boyfriend From Hell, is no exception. The basic plot involves a young NYC freelance female writer whose life is turned upside down and inside out after she writes an article about a satanic cult leader. Corman combines a variety of ingredients to hold your attention throughout this well-written book -- mystery, the occult, romance, friendship and religion, just to mention a few. I had a five-star rating in mind for The Boyfriend From Hell through about three-quarters of my reading. However, I felt the last quarter of the book, while still good, was somewhat predictable and a little too tame. Nonetheless, Corman, the author of such excellent books as Kramer vs. Kramer, The Perfect Divorce, 50 and The Old Neighborhood, deserves a wider reading audience than he has to date. Although The Boyfriend From Hell is not the best of Corman's works, it is definitely worth reading. Enjoy!

4.0 out of 5 stars Hard to Put Down, March 21, 2010

By 

Emily (Cambridge, MA, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Boyfriend from Hell (Paperback)

I got sucked right into this book and didn't want it to end. I like Avery Corman, I also recommend A Perfect Divorce.