Be Mine

I don't read mysteries, or thrillers, or romances, and while I agree that this book seems mistakenly billed as all three of these, I picked it up because I've been so impressed by this author in the past. I was NOT disappointed. My experience, reading the first section of this book, was, "Oh, Kasischke has written an escapist novel..." But the book got deeper and deeper and stranger and more exciting. I can see why the thriller/romance fans were surprised/upset. This book takes you on a very wild ride, and it's to nowhere you thought you were going when you set out. If you like a predictable plot, you won't like this! It's much more interesting than that. This is literature without the 'lite'--it had me by the throat for the last hundred pages, but I was also really sad to finish it.

I agree with those who say it was suspenseful, and also that the ending is a shock, but what I liked about this book is that there's so many layers of meaning. I think it needed to end the way it does because this is not a romance kind of novel, or a movie script. If you like Dannielle Steele you will hate this book. It has got a lot of metaphor going on, and the character of Garret stand for a lot more than just a guy, so what happens to him in the end makes a great deal of meaning for everything that has happened so far. I think the controversy about whether this is the best or the worst book ever has to do with the way people are reading it, and also that they make it look like a typical thriller when really it is a lot more like a David Lynch movie or a Kafka novel than anything else. This book is meaningful to me, and I think anyone who is more interested in thinking and in poetry than in just reading a mystery novel would like it but otherwise you won't.

As others have said here, I was really blown away by the depth of this novel. The situation starts out very sexy but you really have to keep an open mind with what follows. I felt it was so edgy that it seemed really fresh. I can't remember anything like it except maybe Joyce Carol Oates. More importantly, it kept me reading and guessing for the whole time I was reading it. I mean it's very nice that the writing is so strong and beautiful, as others have said here, but the story is also really amazing and memorable. I don't read novels for great atmosphere, but this had both a lot of great imagery and landscape but a great storyline too. I recommend it to anyone.

A dark thriller/romance about the life of a woman who is now reaching middle age and whose life as an empty nester has gotten just a bit dull. She is ripe for an affair that as you can expect brings forth a whole series of unforseen and unwelcome events. While the story follows certain predictable patterns, in the long run such an affair can never be beneficial to the lovers in a book. The writing and the twists and turns of the story make it a delightful read. Ms Kasischke brings every passion out into the open: desire, romance, the thrill of a new love, fear and death, friendship and more. This is the authors fourth novel. With each one she has grown and developed her skills as a storyteller.

I bought this about an hour after reading the interesting USA TODAY article, and devoured it in two days. This book is so full of twists and surprises, you better not read it in public, because you'll be gasping every ten pages. That's one of the great things about it; the other is that Kasishke is one of the best writers around. The descriptions are dazzling. The description of the relationship between mother and son will be completely familiar to anyone who is a parent. This is, as others here say, very sexy and mysterious, but it's also meaningful, and layered. I highly recommend this book.