The Grownup, Gillian Flynn, author, Julia Whelan, narrator
Sometimes I think I live in an alternate universe. At first, listening to this book, I believed that it was about a young woman whose former mode of employment, for a period of three years, was to provide “hand jobs” for her clients. In this endeavor, she had therefore estimated that she had provided more than 23,500. The idea that someone would write a story about this was odd enough to me, but more strange was the fact that I was listening to it and laughing at the excellence of her presentation. I am in shock, and I am in a moment that I believe may exist only in my own imagination. When did this kind of subject matter not only become mainstream, but also, apparently, appealing to a large number of readers? She tells her story with a considerable amount of humor, as in the carpal tunnel syndrome she describes as a hazard of her profession. So, the subject may be lewd, the descriptions may often be crude, but the short story is funny and then, by turns, really scary. It was after midnight when I listened to it on my itouch, and in just over an hour, this story of just over 60 pages, rattled me so much, I could not turn off the lights! I listened to the audiobook at my desk. It was expertly read by Julia Whelan. I actually won and received a hard copy the next morning, from Read It Forward.
Briefly, so as not to give the tale away, it is about the narrator, who remains nameless, and the woman, Susan, who comes to her for counseling. Her husband travels a lot. She is concerned about her difficult stepson, Miles. He has changed since they moved into their newly renovated, older home, and both the home and the child have begun to frighten her. Our narrator offers to cleanse the home for her. Our narrator is the quintessential con artist. As soon as she becomes familiar with Miles and his erratic behavior, and with the house with its odd sounds and strange past, she too grows frightened. Soon, this tale takes on a very chilling character as she begins to think that Susan could be in real danger. Actually, she thinks, they might all be in harm’s way.
This is a really twisted psychological thriller which is so much more than a silly story about a woman who satisfies her male clients six days a week. It simply cannot fail to hold any reader’s interest! Who will be the real grown-up in the room? Is there a grown-up, after all?
Written by the author of “Gone Girl”, this short story will possibly shock the reader, as it did me, but it will also be very entertaining because she is a gifted writer with a classic wit as she describes the narrator’s life, occupation, mother, boss, clients and above all, how a mind works to manipulate the world!
***I won this book from Read It Forward.|