Rating: 
Summary: The Story of Stella & Edgar
Review: When you start reading you feel detached from the story, as it is told by a professional psychiatrist, but as the story progresses you might start feeling that some of the characters, and maybe you yourself are being manipulated.
Is the manipulation real, was it intended? I still wonder after finishing the book.
This is part of the beauty of it since I don't think anyone can tell for sure.
Read the book and decide for yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: Best book I've read in months
Review: Why on earth would a beautiful, intelligent woman -- the wife of a psychiatrist no less -- risk everything for a feral affair with a psychopath? How could Stella's milquetoast husband be so blind to the needs of his passionate wife? Being a psychiatrist himself, why did he just stand by and watch Stella self-destruct?The author treats each character with a distant sympathy and compassion. He applies to them his insight, understanding and wisdom. And we begin to understand why 'sane' people often act more bizarrely than the psychopath himself. After all, 'sane' is a relative, arbitrary term. Though big pieces of the puzzle are missing or merely touched upon, slowly, slowly, Stella's actions begin to almost make sense. Even so, though you know nothing short of a nuclear attack could stop her, you think, No, you fool!, as Stella marches with fiery fervor straight to her doom. There's lots of foreshadowing and metaphor that weave the story into a whole. The writing is fantastic: I found myself reading phrases and sentences over and over again. The style reminds me of film noire. The psychiatrist whose patient Stella was is the not-quite-unbiased narrator. The first half and end of the book are suspenseful; you can't wait to see how it'll turn out. The middle third or so drags in places, but never for too long. Some may be bored by the landscape of the mind that dominates the story. But if you're excited at the prospect of digging into minds of those who are dangerously unbalanced by overwhelming passion -- obsession beyond obsession -- this book is for you. Again, Mr. McGrath's writing alone makes this book worthwhile. He totally drew me in.
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