Customer Reviews

Killing Me Softly: A Novel of Obsession

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I wanted to read this book because I knew that the author is actually two people - the British journalists Nicci Gerrard and Sean French. At first I was sceptical. How can two people write a novel that hangs together, I thought. Well, they succeed and only a couple of chapters in I had completely given up trying to guess who wrote what (an impossibility) and was entirely engrossed in the plot. There is just the right mixture of foreboding and surprise to keep readers turning the pages and burning the midnight oil. I stayed up till one in the morning to finish this, and the last half hour had my heart beating at twice its normal rate. Perhaps if you read a lot of thrillers the effect wears off a bit, but whether or not you read a lot of thrillers you should certainly read this one. A novel dealing with sexual violence could easily become either colluding or 'preachy', but Killing Me Softly avoids both these traps. The only qualm I have is about Adam's visit to Tara and Adele's parents. Why exactly?

I had already been impressed with one of Nicci French's earlier books, "The Memory Game", and had high hopes for this one. It was even better than I could possibly have imagined.

"Killing Me Softly" starts out as a beautiful love story. Alice meets Adam and both are attracted to each other on first sight. That one moment is going to change Alice' life. She leaves her boyfriend, her home and her friends to get married to Adam. Only bit by tiny bit does Alice realize that there are some dark spots in Adam's past. With Alice' growing suspicion the book picks up speed and turns into a gripping thriller.

The whole book is told from Alice' perspective and this helps a lot to accept the choices she made. The reader is witness to her inner turmoil and shares her doubts and fears. I personally would have had a hard time to buy the story if it had been told differently. Told in first person as it is, it becomes believable and understandable.

I very much recommend this book to those who like psychological suspense.

Everyone dreams of a love that would sweep them off their feet and although it sounded all too incredulous for the story, that's how it all began for Alice.

Discarding her comfortable and predictable life, Alice falls in love and lust with Adam Tallis, a climber of mountains. Her happiness is tainted when her own curiosity of her husband's past gives way to gory events that she never expected.

I felt greatly grieved at how the story went. A believer in love myself, I felt happy for Alice to have found such a man who would love her and take care of her forever. I couldn't help shedding a couple of tears at how their love had to end.

This tale is intricately weaved and you would find it hard to put down this book. Every character is an important clue to the mystery which you think is really not much of a mystery, at first.

There are things in the story which reminded me of a "real" life - friends to fall back on, moving ourselves out of the comfort zone in pursuit of what we want, loving and being loved.

It all just seems almost real to me, the anxiety, the tension, the fear. I feel so moved by it all that I wish it would have gone better for Alice and Adam.

There is just so much to tug at your heartstrings that I can only say, READ THIS BOOK.

Great one, Nicci.

Alice Louden leaves her devoted boyfriend for a passionate affair with mountain climber Adam Tallis. The affair quickly turns to marriage. As Alice's new marriage progresses, she finds a dark side to her husband.

Curious to know more about the man she married, Alice probes Adam about his past, a past that Adam is very strong on keeping HIS past.

After forcing Adam to give an interview (he saved some friends during a mountain climb that went bad) to a woman journalist, Alice and the journalist become friends.

With the help of the journalist, Alice starts looking into series of mysterious letters that she has been receiving, as well as an act of savage violence inflicted upon her cat.

The deeper she looks into her husband's past she finds that previous women involved with Adam have either disappeared or died. Are these just strange coincidents or something more sinister?

Nicci French keeps everything moving fast, and the pages almost turn by themself to get to the outcome.

I finished this novel in one sitting.

Add this to your MUST READ list for good entertainment.

Thrillers are not my normal read, but I'd heard intriguing things about the husband-and-wife team that writes as "Nicci French" and I had a longish flight to catch, etc etc.

Glad I took the plunge. Middle class, 30-ish, bright and pretty, Alice locks eyes with a devilishly handsome stranger on a wintry London street and within a few pages has abandoned her safe existence in the grip of a sexual obsession. Doesn't hurt that he's a legitimate mountaineering hero, or that his bedroom technique takes her to places where she's never been.

We see the pitfalls long before Alice seems able to, but the story still comes at us dense with dread. This is not so much a horror-thriller, as a story of adult life - complete with Nick Hornby-like musings on the contradictions of modern love - that spirals down into a fairly credible darkness. Think of it as "Bridget Jones' Dairy of Death."

I still have a question about the climbing rope, but what the hell... This book had me reaching for it in the spare moments when the lights were red. And you don't get THAT everyday!

Picked this book up on a recommendation, not my usual cup of tea. Couldn't put it down, one of those stories that make wonder how someone could do that. Then you find yourself wanting to know more. Very intense at times, scary. Sometimes gave me a queasy feeling. I don't think I can handle another story like this. I tend towards easy reads, fluff, romantic fiction and the such.

I have to say this is one of the best book I've read this year. This is an amazing book! Once you start reading it, you can't seem to put it down. To bad it had to end. Nicci French is an excellent writter. I highly recommend this book. You will not be bored!!!!!!!!

Is the one person that is so perfect for you really too good to be true? That is thy question and Killing Me Softly has the answer. Thi book by Nicci French is an outstanding novel of love, mystery, and murder. Alice Loudon had it all: a faithful boyfriend, a magnificent group of friends, and a fantastic carreer as a scientist. However, Alice was given a chance of a lifetime. She was given the chance to be with her ideal better half. Her soul mate. She must choose between her life as it is, or take a chance living a life with someone else, whom she thinks will give her a better life. It was Adam Tallis' entrancing gaze that lured Alice into his cave of mystifying love. It was Adam's passion for love that enticed Alice into his arms. His incredibly beautiful intense blue eyes would only be a masquerade of somthing ominous. The charaster faces difficult choices and must rely on what her heart tells her rather than what her conscience is saying. Her decision carried with it heavy consequences. This narrative is written so cunningly that the ending turns out to be more astonishin and flabbergasting than any other ending I've ever read. Any woman who had dreamt of that one perfect guy will adore this book. Such dreams are put into words that elucidate exactly what it would be like. Because such experiences are sporadic, readers will be rapt to this beautifully written novel.

This book was a definite page turner! I couldn't put it down. While I thought that the main character's actions were so contrived from the word go, I still felt that the story about the obsessive love between Alice & Adam is something that really could happen! I won't say what happened in the story as I don't want there to be spoilers here, but it was a fantastic read from start to finish.

This book was not particularly thrilling, and the characters were weakly drawn and one dimensional. The plot was so improbable, I had a difficult time finishing the book.

The plot concept has a lot of promise, and could have been a great character study. This novel, however, falls short on every measure of even mediocre literature.

If gratuitous sex and violence are for you, then this is your book. If not, and if you enjoy literature that is more substantial, then avoid this book. If you're still tempted, get it from the library (a concept that is apparently novel to Alice, the main character).

I give this book two stars because it was at least mildly entertaining.