Alice Close Your Eyes by Averil Dean

Ten years ago, someone ruined Alice Croft's life. Now she has a chance to right that wrong–and she thinks she's found the perfect man to carry out her plan. After watching him for weeks, she breaks into Jack Calabrese's house to collect the evidence that will confirm her hopes. When Jack comes home unexpectedly, Alice hides in the closet, fearing for her life. But upon finding her, Jack is strangely calm, solicitous . . . and intrigued.

That night is the start of a dark and intense attraction, and soon Alice finds herself drawn into a labyrinth of terrifying surrender to a man who is more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. As their relationship spirals toward a breaking point, Alice begins to see just how deep Jack's secrets run–and how deadly they could be.

First, do not let your children read this.  As I was reading the first few chapters, I couldn't even concentrate on the storyline.  I just kept thinking over and over how a few short years ago this would have been labeled as pornography.  It's vivid and descriptive and leaves nothing out.  They're written well and definitely necessary to the plot of the book, but be forewarned.  These scenes are not for the faint of heart.

That being said, what a disturbing book!  I devour horror and thriller at every opportunity.  This book literally disturbed me emotionally, mentally and physically.  I was terrified in parts and found it difficult to continue reading.  There were a few parts where I had to take a short break to breathe before I could delve back in.  If you are looking for a  book that will scare you on a different level, this could be the book for you.  The way this is written, it's so easy to see how everything can spiral out of control, even when you start out with all of the control.  It's scary in that you can easily see how this could happen to you.  Also, everything is so vivid and colored.  You can't help but feel you're actually in the story.

As a character study, this is actually pretty amazing.  It deals with so many issues that people deal with.  Everyone has their secrets, it's a matter of how deeply they run.  When you start keeping serious secrets at a young age, it's easy to see how in adulthood that can lead to some mental stability issues.  Not only that, genetic mental stability issues are brought into the picture.  We see the gritty side of humanity.  It's not evil, it's not even really 'bad'.  It just is.  It's the seedier side of human nature that most of us want to believe doesn't exist and sweep under the rug.  Alice forces you to open your eyes and stop sweeping for a few minutes.

This is an excellent read that you can pull a lot away from.  Just be careful.  If violence and sex, or any mixture thereof, is difficult for you, you may want to pass on this one.  It takes a lot to get to me.  Personally, I love that it scared the bejeesus out of me!

 

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  Shawn