Vanessa Marlowe Sleeping with the Devil

Sleeping with the Devil

Vanessa Marlowe

St. Martin's Griffin, Apr 2008, $13.95

ISBN: 9780312364779

Desert chef Meg White enjoys her mundane middle class lifestyle although she almost always is broke as her pay stinks. However, when she meets affluent older Jordan Blair while vacationing with her fianc Steve the salesman on the rainy Oregon coast, she is immediately attracted to his sophisticated charm. He is just as hooked. She ends her engagement rationalizing Steve is hooked on Kimberly whom he just met, gives up her job, and quickly moves into Jordan ' s expensive penthouse.

He expands her sexual encounters, but reduces her world to his apartment. Meg soon becomes concerned as she realizes Jordon is controlling every aspect of her life. She fears if the bird escapes the gilded cage, this control freak will hunt her down.

This chilling character driven psychological thriller focuses on control by an obsessed person using any means from sexual to economic to guilt inducement in order to maintain domination and supremacy. Meg ' s first person account showcases her change from euphoria to doubt to abject fear as she reassesses just who Jordan is. With a superb final twist, fans will appreciate this strong look at abuse that comes in many ways not just physical and emotional, but sexual and economic terrorism.

Harriet Klausner