Product Description
New York Times bestselling author returns with a powerful novel about marriage, friendship, betrayal and good intentions.

Lynn Schuster didn’t expect the phone call from Marc Cameron, the other woman’s spouse. And she never expected to feel a strong attraction to him when they met and he offered her the perfect way to get even with her cheating husband. Savvy divorce lawyer Renee Bower warned Lynn to be careful. But Renee had a troubled marriage of her own; chilling suspicions about her stepdaughter’s hidden agenda and her handsome psychiatrist husband’s after-hours consultations were chipping away at her cool exterior. And now, as their lives unravel in counterpoint during this hot, explosive summer, Lynn and Renee are learning more than they ever wanted to know about love and betrayal. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

GOOD OLD FASHIONED CHICK-LIT
The book revolves around two women with problematic lives.They are client and lawyer who have love relationship woes---the story goes back and forth between the two flawlessly.

Lynn's husband has fallen out of love with her and moves on with another woman.The other woman's husbandcontacts Lynn and thereby hangs a tale.

Renee (I too pronounced it Ren-nay for easy reading flow)is the lawyer Lynn seeks out--she too ultimately has marital woes along with step daughter problems.

This is a good way to spend a few hours with an interesting read that makes you thankful for your own home and hearth.

In the end the good guys win and the bad guys lose and all is right with the world

Betrayed
Social worker Lynn Schuster thought that she had the perfect life....a handsome, successful lawyer husband who loved her and two well adjusted children, until the day he tells her that he's fallen out of love with her and into love with another woman. The other woman's husband visits Lynn to talk over their mutual problem and an instant attraction happens. Lynn's lawyer, clever but overweight Renee, is continually trying to please her dominating, psychiatrist husband, in the same way that she was always trying, and never succeeding,to please her cold, unemotional father. As both Lynn and Renee fight to keep control of their lives, they are sadly confronted by the realisation that often, no matter how determinedly they try to please by grovelling, the grass is always greener elsewhere for the straying partner. Ok, it's a "chick" book but such an enjoyable read as these two women struggle to maintain and sense of self worth.

An oldie but a goodie
I have read many of Joy Fielding's latest novels, and had to dig deep to get this older one.It was different from the usual murder/suspense plots that Fielding usually writes.I enjoyed the in-depth look at 2 women's emotional states and needs (and desires).What a twist of how Marc and Lynn got together! The sexual tension theme did get a bit redundant after a while, however. I found the Renee pronunciation thing a tad annoying too, but I decided to read it as "Re-nay" and make it easier on myself!I despised both Debbie and Philip, but I think that Debbie finally helped Renee to snap out of her fantasy that Philip was perfect and that she was the problem. I think Debbie (perhaps unwittingly) did Renee a favor, but perhaps she did care for Renee enough to give her a dose of reality.I also read "See Jane Run" but I don't remember the Renee character from that novel.

A reader from California.
I have read all of Joys books and this one of the Best.Now looking forward to reading Whispers & Lies.

DECENT
I loved Lynn, her children and the man who eventually became her lover. Her husband jilts her and the husband of the woman who is having an affair with Lynn's husband becomes Lynn's lover. In short, they switch partners. Lynn's lover is a nice person, where as her husband paired off with a barracuda.

Renee Bowers (I agree with another reader -- I wish her name was pronounced like Renee, rhymes with day instead of Renee, rhymes with beanie) is the divorce attorney. Her husband is a cold, unloving and very cruel man who bears a mirror image to Renee's tyrannical father. His daughter Debbie from a previous marriage is no prize, either. Debbie is her daddy's daughter, all right.She is a step daughter to beware of! I didn't like Debbie from the start and she and her nasty father Philip deserved each other.Renee was a fool to put up with their tyranny and cruelty.

Debbie was sneaky, spoiled, spiteful and mean. For example, early in the book, 16-year-old Debbie cries about a nightmare she allegedly has about Renee killing her father in a car accident. It is hard to believe that a 16-year-old would wake up crying about a stupid dream. I, for one, don't believe she dreamed it. I was also disgusted with Philip's allowing himself to be taken in by his wretched daughter. All Debbie did was cause friction and try to pry Renee and Philip apart. I actually cheered when Renee finally slapped the loathsome, nasty girl good and hard across her face and told her where to go. I was glad that Renee appeared in a later book ("See Jane Run") and had the good sense to jump her father's ship, Philip's ship and disgusting Debbie's ship once and for good. ... Read more

Product Description

"You're in danger. You and Amanda."

The warning draws Bonnie Wheeler to a place she has never been:

To the brutally slain body of her husband's ex-wife . . .

To the shattering of her perfect world by a murdered woman's secrets . . .

To a place where every truth becomes a lie—and every loved one is a stranger . . .

To a gathering darkness that threatens her innocent child—and herself . . .

To a home where nothing is safe, and there's no one she can trust.

No one.

Ella, 22, is a trapped young woman limited to the flickers of releaseshe finds in pyromania. Having abandoned college, she is stuck in hersmall, Midwestern hometown, suffocated by the silence of her repressedmother and grandmother and physically encased in ropy scars from thefire in which she was severely burned as a child. In this mesmerizingfirst novel, we follow her incendiary trail as Ella tries to cope withmany losses: her father to cancer; her grandfather to suicide; herfavorite aunt, whose whereabouts are unknown; and, finally, her senseof herself--both apart from and as one with the shocking scars thatbind her skin. Ella pokes nervously at smoldering truths, but in herfamily the lies come as quick and fast as the deaths--and each newdeceit sparks the impulse to inflame. Fire is made of grief, Ellabelieves, and she witnesses plenty of both in a story as entrancingand powerful as the lick and curl of a flame. --Brangien Davis ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Story is a wake-up call for a town that still struggles with tolerance

This dark novel was one of my most challenging and intriguing reads.The story set in Porter, Indiana is really patterned after Valparaiso; the county seat of Porter in the Hoosier state's Northwestern corner. It's a good slap in the face for a town set on the border between Indiana's industrial hub and endless farmlands to the east and south; cornfields that perhaps makes it the popcorn capital of America. I was drawn deeper into the story because I knew the setting and was also intrigued by the genesis of the author's intent with writing this haunting story.Valparaiso, that hosted the racist sundown laws, and more recently the U.S. Congressman, a Republican of course, that refused to abandoned President Nixon even after the facts came out that the Chief Executive of the land was not only a crook but also obstructed justice, remains intolerant to outsiders. The setting is a place where today you'll hear City Councilman wish for a wall to keep out the Chicago people, Mortgage persons wish for the shooting of our first black President, and others complain that blacks may find "their" beaches. Although American blacks are now included in the cityscape you are hard pressed to find them employed by locally owned establishments.Even the University that hosted Rene Steinke and celebrated this good read, remains the place where non Lutherans speaking at their Missouri Synod programs may result in internal investigations of breaking their rules of co-mingling with others.Valparaiso University once was as highly rated as Harvard and was nearly purchased by the Klan as is reported in Steinke's story.Although with the mindset of the religious clergy there today, who recently encouraged the suicide of a female peer who outreached to lesbians, gays and non Lutherans, you might wonder if the KKK didn't purchase the place.(To its credit the University has some brilliant professors, a good law school, and one of the best art museums outside the city of Chicago).

With all the above in mind I followed this depressing story of a heroine whose only hope for survival seems to be escaping from her Indiana town.(Keep in mind Indiana has been suffering from brain drain from time immemorial and even Bill Blass wrote that he and Halston joinedthe conga dance to New York and LA or anywherefaraway from the banks of the Wabash).Our heroine, a pyromaniac, eventually lands in Chicago as have so many real-life Hoosiers to that Mecca-on-the-lake.But when back home in Indiana she consumes bourbon to sleep,engages in meaningless sex with men passing through her town, and sets fire to the garage of her parent's friends so they too will know what it is like for their black countrymen to experience arson. The story reveals dark family secrets of suicide, rape and a group denial with obvious repercussions. This story is a shocking contrast to the usual feel good stories that have come out of the Indiana Dunes Country.It is depressing and alas all too real.

The Fire in the Writing
Here's a story where every word counts, where metaphor is as vivid as the flame of a match, and the story line as searing as a destructive fire.The main character is well-sketched in slight but effective description.The theme of "fires" is well-thread throughout the story.In some of the minor characters there is less development, but it plays out fine.This is a haunting story of a girl who sometimes feels as thin as smoke and sometimes as large as a raging inferno.

(3.5 stars) ...Turbulent and intense...
This author takes a volatile subject and turns it into a powerful message. Sensing that her life has spun out of control, the promiscious Ella finds her fragile sense of self defined by the unpredictable and dangerous rush of setting fires. As a child, Ella found herself helpless, powerless, drawn into the roar of cleansing flames. As a young woman, Ella's personal disintegration has led to drunken laisons with strangers, further shredding her minimal self-worth. Surrounded by family secrets, covered with burn scars, Ella could be a pathetic creature in lesser hands. But this Ella is a survivor, and Steinke gives her the courage to confront her life. The inner scars are what drive Ella; she can live with those that map her flesh.

It takes consummate skill to propel a story through the stages of renewal and redemption, without resortingto facile techniques. This writer, in lyrical and visual prose, creates a heroine worthy of notice, deserving of respect.

Excellent Book!!
I was looking in the book store for books on sale, and I noticed this bookon the rack.It is exactly the type of book I like to read.This excitingstory of Ella, and how she has an obsession with fire, is a great story toread.I thoroughly enjoyed the book, with all its twists and turns!!Iwould definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in it.

Mediocre Writing, Silly Plot
I was extremely disappointed in, and just flat-out bored by, this book. Overblown purple prose serves no purpose, and the storyline takes forever to move (and even then feels contrived). I finally just put the book downand refused to continue. Just insulting, pointless reading. If this is whatis passing for "good writing" nowadays in Creative Writingclasses (the jacket says she teaches CW at some community college) thenthis woman needs to be fired and replaced, quickly, because she's obviouslyruining young, talented minds with this drivel. ... Read more

Product Description

New York Times bestselling author

JOY FIELDING

puts suspense into high gear, taking readers on a seductively twisting thrill ride into the heart of danger and desire -- to a place where nothing is as it seems.

She found the perfect lover. . . . Jamie Kellogg's life is at a crossroads. Stuck in a dead-end job, the divorced twenty-nine-year-old has been ruled by the voices of her judgmental mother and her perfectionist sister long enough. Now she's hearing only the sexy whispers of the thrillingly handsome stranger in her bed, the man she met in a Florida bar. His name is Brad Fisher, and he's telling her everything she's been dying to hear: She's gorgeous. She's smart. She's adventurous. Quitting her job and joining Brad on a spontaneous road trip, Jamie's ready for the ride of her life. But this trip has one destination: a run-down Ohio house on Mad River Road, where vengeance will come home at last -- and where someone will pay for the secrets and lies of the past. . . . ... Read more

Customer Reviews (36)

To quote Bette Davis "What a dump"
So totally average that I am tempted to not leave a review---but here goes.

Did I read the same book that the 5 star reviewers read?The story line is fairly engaging, but the characters are very one dimensional and we plod on to the eventual"you-can-see-it-coming-a-mile-away"somewhat combustible ending.There is not much suspense because you really don't like the characters very well.The villain is a creepy psycho and the females Jamie, Lily and Emma are just plain dull.

I wouldn't read this again for money.

JOY FIELDING'S BEST ONE YET!!
Without a doubt my FAVORITE one so far...and I've read almost everyone of Joy Fielding's novels....this one has it all Suspense, Romance, Courage, Friendship, Motherhood....everything wrapped up in one fantastic book! WILL KEEP YOU AT THE VERY EDGE OF YOUR SEAT....

Book Format
The size of the book is VERY annoying.Because it's 4" x 7.5" it's difficult to read.Based on this, I wouldn't purchase another book written in this format.The lines are very short.

Give me a paperback written in the old format.

UTTER MADNESS REIGNS
This mystery is really a character study in mental and emotional disorders.We have a particularly nasty and vengeful villain, a chameleon of a man who can go from Prince Charming to Jack the Ripper in the blink of an eye.His enjoyment comes from taunting and playing mind games with his victims before disposing of them.Then we have a trio of women characters, Jamie, Lily and Emma, each leading a somewhat shabby existence due to something or someone in their past.Each of the protagonists are weighed down by assorted secrets, compulsions and an excessive amount of emotional baggage and each, it appears, has a date with destiny that culminates in a house on Mad River Road.

This is a suspenseful and psychologically engaging thriller.It has some moments that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up while others will disgust and anger you. The Jamie character was gullible and annoying in her insecurity, but at the same time believable (I have worked with a couple of Jamie's in my life and have wondered how they would ever survive in the big world).

Joy Fielding is a perfect seamstress and she has taken the varied pieces of each characters story, added in the colorful threads of adjunct individuals, like the controlling ex-mother in law), and neatly pieced them all together to give the reader a compelling crazy quilt of a tale.

Not worth it!
This was a first book of J. Fielding I read. A friend is trying to convince me to give a try to another one of her books. I did not have to get too far in the book to pretty much put together what's going to happen. The main character could not be more stupid, is that how Fielding views women? Fielding used characters that had absolutely nothing to do with, or contribute to the main story. The way I see it she needed to have more pages for the book, so she wrote, frankly, useless conversations to give it bulk. The book is very shallow, not a good fiction and not even "true" to real life, not a thriller. It leaves you empty.

... Read more

Product Description
1993 First Edition ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Way too long.
The Transformation centers around three young girls in Hollywood.In the midst of the stories of each girl, a cult is at the center.I found the story to be way too long with an uninteresting plot.Not one of Fielding'sbetter novels. ... Read more

Product Description
Charley’s Web:
Charley Webb is a beautiful single mother who writes a successful and controversial column for the Palm Beach Post. She’s spent years building an emotional wall against scathing critics, snooty neighbors, and her disapproving family. But when she receives a letter from Jill Rohmer, a young woman serving time on death row for the murders of three small children, her boundaries slowly begin to fade. Jill wants Charley to write her biography so that she can share the many hidden truths about the case that failed to surface during her trial. Seeing this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Charley begins her journey into the mind of this deeply troubled woman.
Her path takes a twisted turn, however, when the anonymous letters she’s recently received from an angry reader evolve into threats, targeting her son and daughter. As Charley races against time to save her family, she begins to understand the value of her seemingly intrusive neighbors, friends, and relatives. As she discovers, this network of flawed but loving people might just be her only hope of getting out alive.

Still Life:
Beautiful, happily married, and the owner of a successful interior design business, Casey Marshall couldn’t be more content with her life, until a car slams into her at almost fifty miles an hour, breaking nearly every bone in her body and plunging her into a coma. Lying in her hospital bed, Casey realizes that although she is unable to see or communicate, she can hear everything. She quickly discovers that her friends aren’t necessarily the people she thought them to be – and that her accident might not have been an accident at all. As she struggles to break free from her living death, she begins to wonder if what lies ahead could be even worse.
“It is Fielding’s ability to get under the skin of her characters – and her readers – that has made her such a dependably bestselling author,” says the Calgary Herald. Smart, suspenseful, and overwhelmingly addictive, Still Life is a novel her fans won’t soon forget.
“Fielding is a masterful writer.” – Romantic Times Book Club ... Read more