Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts: A Novel - Hardcover

Benedict, Laura

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0345497694 ISBN 13: 9780345497697

Publisher: Ballantine Books, 2008

Synopsis

Three childhood friends. A malicious lie. One hell of a consequence.

Growing up, Roxanne, Del, and Alice tested the limits of their friendship with cruel, and often dangerous, games–but they always knew they would be bound together forever. Now, Alice’s marriage is over, and her husband is having a child with another woman. Roxanne, an artist consumed by her work, is losing touch with her friends–and perhaps with reality. And Del is desperate to be a perfect wife and adoring stepmother, but her friends see that her careful façade is crumbling.

The instrument of their destruction is a single enigmatic man–Varick. He seems to be a lonely woman’s dream come true, but where has he come from? And what does he want? As he seduces the women in turn, their lives become unrecognizable to them. Varick’s 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 but also their souls are at risk. For once upon a time, the three of them 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. 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.

About this title

About the Author:

Laura Benedict is the author of Isabella Moon. Her short fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and a number of anthologies. For the past decade she has worded as a freelance book reviewer for the Grand Rapids Press in Michigan and other newspapers. She lives in Southern Illinois with her husband, Pinckney Benedict, and their two children.

www.laurabenedict.com

From Publishers Weekly:

After summoning a lover through a ritual part witchcraft, part Santeria, at the start of Benedict's spellbinding second novel (after Isabella Moon), three 13-year-old Lolitas—Roxanne, Del and Alice—believe that their new teacher at Cincinnati's Our Lady of the Hills school, is the angel sent to deflower them. Roxanne successfully schemes to seduce Cuban-born Father Romero, who suffers terrible guilt as a result. When Alice and Del each falsely accuse Romero of acting inappropriately toward them, Romero is defrocked and loses his job. Seventeen years later, Romero returns to town with Varick, a demon disguised as a man, to punish the now adult schoolgirls. All become entangled in an unholy web of destruction that threatens innocent lives. While the underage sex may make some readers uncomfortable, this sad, erotically charged update of a classic horror theme offers a cautionary moral: pacts with the devil seldom result in happiness. (Dec.)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0345497694
• ISBN 13: 9780345497697
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336