Opening Line: “He knew he was going to die.”Killing Me Softly is a love story but not in the typical sense; it’s obsessive, all consuming, violent, intense, desperate and ultimately terrifying. And oh my god is it good. I literally could not put this down. If I could compare this book to anything I would say that initially it reminded me of a combination of 9 ½ weeks and that Richard Gere/Diane Lane movie from a few years ago (Unfaithful) -based on the passion, intensity and utter randomness of our couples first encounter. Of course it then unravels into a tense psychological thriller which much in a car wreck sort of way you can’t take your eyes off of. Throughout I had a feeling of, this just can’t end well.I should mention that despite the fact that the blurb on the jacket describes this book as ‘erotic’ all the sex scenes are off page; it’s still sexy as hell -in an alarming sort of way. And I’ll admit to being very uncomfortable in sections, shaking my head at our heroine’s decisions and basic lack of “self” (“what the hell are you thinking girl?”) I also doubted myself, doubted Alice and Adam and was left utterly raw and heartbroken by the end. Just the kind of reading experience I love.Alice Loudon has it all: a comfortable life, a stable (nice) live-in boyfriend, a good job, clever friends, and then one day while walking down a London street on her lunch hour she sees him, standing there, staring, as if waiting for her. The attraction is immediate; it’s unexplainable, like a lightning bolt that neither of them can turn away from. He is Adam Tallis and without speaking a word she follows this complete stranger to his apartment where she proceeds to let him take her clothes off and engages in the most intense love making she has ever known. In fact with Adam she needs a new word for sex. He envelopes her, obliterates her, he is unlike any man she has ever known, and within days she is lost to him.Abandoning everything (and I mean that literally) Alice leaves her boyfriend and moves in, within months they’re married. Nothing matters except him and them and her world becomes very small. She barely recognizes herself in the mirror anymore as Adam begins to possess every aspect of her being. He worships her, desires her, loves her in an all-consuming way and there isn’t room for anyone or anything else. Alice’s world shrinks to being just Adam; the stranger she fell in love with on a street.Adam. Her enigmatic husband, world renowned mountain climber, guide and reluctant hero after his last expedition in the Himalayas left half of their group dead. Adam comes with a whole circle of mysterious and exotic friends and it’s when Klaus decides to write a book about the tragedy of the Chungawat expedition that Alice opens her eyes. Reality creeps in, jealousy and doubt takes hold and the tension level rises. How well does she really know this man? Told entirely from the first person we witness Alice’s inner turmoil, doubts and fears as curiosity about her husband’s past and former lovers becomes in of itself an obsession.“What a ghastly farce it all was. Our whole marriage was built on desire and deception.”359jb5
Man can I give this book a 3.5..LOL anyways I really did enjoy this book as it is subtitled as A Novel of Obsession and that is exactly what she was, obsessed, like to the extreme..Okay so the book starts out with an ordinary woman just like any one of us in a great relationship with a guy who is comfortable with her, and wants to marry her--she has a great circle of college friends and a great job as a scientific researcher for a female contraceptive..everything a thirty-something woman could want then one day as she is crossing the street she locks eyes with a beautiful mysterious stranger..Yeah he's hot and she is intrigued but forgets him as she goes to work, however when she leaves work he is still there and without even giving her his name she follows him to his borrowed residence and has mind blowing sex..Okay so with just that intro I was alittle lost on relating to her, who does this, she doesnt even know anything about him, where she is going or anything but follows this crazy quiet dude anywhere it was creepy..So like I said she follows him, begins this crazy affair where she lies to everyone, alienates herself from her friends and eventually breaks it off with her boyfriend and then get this, she marries the dude she knows nothing about..and yup he's crazy..He is ultra secretive, gets into kinky masochistic sex and becomes obsessesed with her, while she is finally wising up and investigating him as well..She delves into his past with an almost unhealthy fixation and finds everything she wanted to, and more..Like I said I enjoyed this book and felt the writing was superb, alive and expressive and I cant wait to read more from this author (interesting side note: found out this author was a husband and wife tag team writing duo, how amazing)--however as noted the plot was silly and kinda unbelievable, what woman would do anything she did, no intelligent self respecting female I know but hey thats why I read, to find out what I dont know and see what others do..Love it
Do You like book Killing Me Softly (2006)?
Publishers WeeklyA critically acclaimed, bestselling British author (The Memory Game), French makes her American debut with a stunning novel of sexual obsession. Alice Loudon has a wonderful boyfriend, Jake; a nice apartment in London; good friends; and a satisfying job as a research manager in a pharmaceutical company. On her way to work one morning, she locks eyes with a handsome man dressed in black, and cannot get him out of her mind. Later that day, she finds him waiting for her and she plunges into an affair of such intensity that she leaves Jake, neglects her friends and her health and even puts herself in great danger. "Sex had never been like this. There had been indifferent sex, embarrassing sex, nasty sex, good sex, great sex. This was more like obliterating sex." Alice's new lover, Adam Tallis, is a mountain climber and a hero. Guiding an ill-fated expedition to the top of a Himalayan mountain, he risked his life to save over half the climbers (although five people died). He seems perfect, but he reveals little about himself; he never laughs; and sometimes he inflicts physical pain on Alice during sex. Despite the shocking revelations of a woman who claims to be his former lover, Alice marries Adam. Soon she cannot ignore other frightening signals: mysteriously threatening notes and incessant phone calls from someone who never speaks. After she meets several more women from Adam's past, she pieces together his secrets, and sees his overwhelming love for her in a more sinister light. With lucid and limber prose, French delves into Alice's thoughts as skillfully as she describes the London setting. The pacing is swift and the dialogue sharp and realistic. The story's thematic device is a cleverly imagined redoubling: the physical and psychic risks of mountain climbing parallel Alice's journey towards a perilous sexual summit. "It had begun in rapture and finished in terror," reads a line near the end of the narrative. Every decade or so a psychological thriller appears that graphically recounts an intelligent woman's willing sexual subjugation; this gripping novel joins that group.
—Kris
Killing Me SoftlyYou’re happy. You are pleased with your life. You have a job that you enjoy and you are good at it. You have a partner that loves you and you are even considering starting a family. One day, that all changes, you see a stranger and everything changes. With hardly a word you follow him and are willingly sexually seduced. This is the life of Alice Loudon. She meets Adam and everything changes. Life is no longer mundane but is this new, all consuming passion, really what she wants. Adam tells her that they belong to each other but should she take this literally? After marriage she suddenly discovers that she knows nothing about her husband’s past. Is this significant? Her quest for answers brings her where she never expected or wanted to be. This is a story to sink your teeth in. A really great read! Another winner for Nicci French!
—Thom Swennes
Technically, this is not a "first-read," since it was first published in 1999, but I did win it in a Goodreads giveaway. The book is subtitled "A Novel of Obsession," and they aren't kidding! Known for writing psychological thrillers, the husband-wife team Nicci French delivers a compelling, fast-paced story that had me from the first page. The premise, to me, is not particularly believable: a man and a woman spot each other on the street and, practically without exchanging a word, immediately fall into a passionate, sex-driven, kinky affair. Almost as quickly, the relationship becomes scary (I was alarmed right away; it took Alice a few more chapters), and suddenly I couldn't put the darn thing down. I was, yes, OBSESSED, with seeing how it all turned out. Housework be damned, wedding baking be damned, school prep be damned. Mission accomplished, Nicci French. Well done. This is my second experience with you and I will be back!
—P
