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Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts

Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts, January 2009
by Laura Benedict

Ballantine Books
336 pages
ISBN: 0345497694
EAN: 9780345497697
Hardcover
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"A dark and disturbing thriller about seeking revenge from long-held childhood secrets."

Fresh Fiction Review

Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts
Laura Benedict

Reviewed by Kay Quintin
Posted December 15, 2008

Thriller

At 13, Alice, Roxanne and Del are close friends living in Cincinnati and experimenting in satanic witchcraft. Roxanne, being the instigator, is performing a ritual using Alice, a virgin. She's promised the other girls that the satanic spell will attract guys just for them. Alice appears dead and scares both Roxanne and Del away. Everything returns to normal in the following days, as if nothing has happened. The girls believe that the handsome young priest, Romero, is the "guy" produced from the spell. Roxanne seduces him and then finds she needs a secret abortion. The three girls lie to conspire against Romero, bringing him to ruin and exiled by the church.

Fifteen years later, Alice is married and rich but cannot have the one thing she longs for...a child. Roxanne is an artist and sculpts clay. Del is married and has a young stepdaughter she dearly loves. Romero has not forgotten his degradation, and his revenge on the women is being handled by Varrick, the devil himself. The devil appears to each woman as a handsome stranger with strange sexual appetites and disrupts their lives in an effort to torture and dispose of them. Bloodthirsty and involving the innocence surrounding the three women, Varrick has agreed to trade his services for Romero's soul.

Laura Benedict is a talented writer and very good with words. She has a way of putting you in the middle of a scene and making it seem quite real. CALLING MR. LONELY HEARTS is a dark, disturbing story with many strange and highly sexual scenes. For me, it was a bit difficult to follow, but it's a compelling read for those who like innuendos, flashbacks and a complex storyline.

Learn more about Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts

SUMMARY

Alice, Roxanne, and Del have been best friends since childhood—a childhood full of silly games, growing pains, and a hint of the kind of cruelty that only young girls know. Now, Alice’s marriage is over, her husband having a child with another woman. Roxanne, an artist, is losing touch with everyone who cares for her—and perhaps with reality. And Del is soldiering through, but her friends see a dark cloud gathering in her eyes.

The instrument of their destruction is a single enigmatic man—Varick. Seemingly summoned from the air, the strikingly handsome Varick is a lonely woman’s dream come true. But as Varick seduces the women in turn, their lives become unrecognizable to them. But where has he come from? And what does he want? His secret lies buried in their shared past. One simple, childish act has brought them, all these years later, to a place where not only their lives are at risk, but so are their souls. For once upon a time, the three friends agreed to tell a lie—one that ruined the life of a young priest. Defrocked, destitute, and ruined, he hoped with the whole of his shattered heart that he would get revenge. And in that hope he shook hands with the one who promised it. The devil himself. Varick. And now they all must live with the consequences. . . .

Dark and provocative, Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts will keep readers in its terrifying grip long after the final, chilling page is turned.


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