The Boyfriend from Hell

I got sucked right into this book and didn't want it to end. I like Avery Corman, I also recommend A Perfect Divorce.

From the author of "Kramer vs. Kramer", comes this suspenseful tale of the occult, mixed in with modern urban life. A freelance writer living in Manhattan, Veronica Delaney thrives on her work. And apparently, she becomes obsessed with it, when, after writing a piece about Satanic cults, she literally takes her work home with her. One of her interviews is with a slick, charming man who lectures on Satanism. Emotionally remote, he wins her over with his persuasive abilities and sexual presence. They begin an affair. He tends to travel a lot for his work, but just when Veronica (Ronnie) almost gives up on him, he seems to reappear...continually. Then a startling combination of events turns Ronnie's world on end. Ronnie receives a series of bizarre "threats"...dead cats, pictures of herself decapitated...and then the cult leader whom she first interviewed is murdered (strangely enough, right after she has met with him and during a mysterious black out). Meanwhile, Ronnie has contracted to write a book on Satanic possession, after which she seemingly disappears into the world of the occult...mentally and emotionally. One bizarre happening after another brings Ronnie to a place of rapid disintegration. How she copes with it all leaves the reader rapidly turning pages, eager to find out what happens in the end.

Twenty-four years old Veronica Ronnie Delaney left the Bronx to become a successful freelance journalist based on Manhattan. However, in spite of running around the Central park reservoir twice each morning her social life remains the same that it was back at Bronx Science High School; meaning zero. For an article, Ronnie interviews historian Richard Smith, an expert on satanic worship. He responds to her inquires with vague philosophical babble that if good exists, evil does too. Richard charms Ronnie and they begin seeing one another. After her article comes out, a dead black cat is delivered to Ronnie, who assumes satanic church leader Randall Cummings sent it. Richard's editor asks Ronnie to write a book on satanic possession, which she agrees to do. However, Ronnie becomes concerned when she blacks out and while unconscious apparently sketched an elaborate picture; other strange happenings frighten her too. When a picture of a decapitated head arrives, Ronnie visits Randall Cummings only to faint. When she awakens he is dead and she is the prime suspect. When she learns from a mental patient that her satanic lover looks like Richard, Ronnie flees to her old Bronx neighborhood (not even the devil would voluntarily go there) to ask her childhood priest to exorcise Satan from within her. This is an interesting paranormal thriller starring a lapsed Catholic who begins to believe she is seeing THE BOYFRIEND FROM HELL. The opening chapters are terrific as Ronnie and Richard meet and begin to date. The tale loses some of its playfulness and possibilities once Randall is murdered because from that point on to the climax, the story line turns restricted focusing only on Ronnie's efforts to free her self from possession. Although lacking the humor of My Demon Boyfriend or the frightfulness of the Exorcist, readers will enjoy this urban possession thriller. Harriet Klausner

I've read all but one of Avery Corman's books and they have all been worth reading. His skills in character development, dialogue, setting and pacing make Corman's books hard to put down, and his latest, The Boyfriend From Hell, is no exception. The basic plot involves a young NYC freelance female writer whose life is turned upside down and inside out after she writes an article about a satanic cult leader. Corman combines a variety of ingredients to hold your attention throughout this well-written book -- mystery, the occult, romance, friendship and religion, just to mention a few. I had a five-star rating in mind for The Boyfriend From Hell through about three-quarters of my reading. However, I felt the last quarter of the book, while still good, was somewhat predictable and a little too tame. Nonetheless, Corman, the author of such excellent books as Kramer vs. Kramer, The Perfect Divorce, 50 and The Old Neighborhood, deserves a wider reading audience than he has to date. Although The Boyfriend From Hell is not the best of Corman's works, it is definitely worth reading. Enjoy!