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Bound
Bound
Bound
Audiobook10 hours

Bound

Written by Elisabeth Naughton

Narrated by Elizabeth Wiley

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

3/5

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About this audiobook

TITUS-To most his gift seems like a blessing, but for him it's a curse the other Eternal Guardians-those who protect the mortal realm from threats of the Underworld-seek to exploit. One he would gladly trade for the chance to be free . . .

Obsessed. Her touch is like a drug. From the moment he met her, Titus knew she was different. Even dangerous. Yet though his guardian brethren are convinced Natasa is working for Hades, Titus can't stop thinking about her. Can't stop fantasizing about her. Can't stop craving the one thing he knows could lead to the downfall of his world.

Possessed. Faced with stopping Natasa or joining in her quest, Titus falls to temptation and is thrust into a world of lust, deception, and deadly treachery designed by the gods. Her touch-only hers-frees him from his bonds, but desire may just condemn him. Because before the end he'll have to decide which is more important: duty and honor to those he took an oath to defend, or a woman who could very well be the biggest curse to them all.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 30, 2013
ISBN9781452686028
Bound
Author

Elisabeth Naughton

Before topping multiple bestseller lists—including those of the New York Times, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal—Elisabeth Naughton taught middle-school science. A voracious reader, she soon discovered she had a knack for creating stories with a chemistry of their own. The spark turned into a flame, and Naughton now writes full-time. Her books have been nominated for some of the industry’s most prestigious awards, such as the RITA and Golden Heart Awards from Romance Writers of America, the Australian Romance Readers Award, and the Golden Leaf Award. When not dreaming up new stories, Naughton can be found spending time with her husband and three children in their western Oregon home. Unspeakable is the third book in her Deadly Secrets series, following Protected, Gone, and Repressed, which was a 2017 RITA winner in romantic suspense. Learn more about Elisabeth at www.ElisabethNaughton.com.

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Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
3/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Antonya Nelson is best known for her short stories, but in this novel she uses the extra space to wonderful effect. This is a thoughtful, elliptical novel and the gentle pace may not grab all readers, which is a pity because this is a beautifully written, deeply insightful novel about the lives of three women in Kansas. Catherine is in her 40s, and married to much-Oliver, a vain and self-indulgent man on his third marriage, although one senses it may not be his last. Misty is Catherine's childhood friend, whose life diverged from Catherine's into more turbulent, and messier, waters. The book opens when Misty, with a dog in the back of the car, drives off a road to her death. Her daughter, Cattie is a teenager is 'willed' to Catherine and when she learns of her mother's death, skips out on her Eastern boarding school with $500 in her pocket, a rather dodgy travelling companion and a stray dog. If you are looking for a page-turning plot, perhaps this isn't your book, because things happen slowly here, and apart from the intial car crash, without much violence, even though the BTK Killer hovers like a malevolent spirit in the background. Nelson's territory is interior and this is the landscape on which she works her considerable magic. Her focus shifts, at one moment bringing Catherine and Oliver's marriage into the spotlight, at another turning it onto Oliver's infidelities, or Cattie's journey . . . All flows together seamlessly, creating a vivid and intriguing portrait of these people's lives. On cannot help but think of Chekhov.The story begins and ends with the dog from the back of Misty's car, and it is testment to the grace of Nelson's writing that this feels right and good and not a bit maudlin. Settle in. Get a good cup of tea. Relax. Take your time and enjoy this terrific book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A book where the parts are greater than the whole. Interesting characters, but they don't change, or grow. Oliver is the aging serial husband, trading in for a newer, younger model every twenty years. Catherine, wife number 3, and named guardian to her high school friend's orphaned daughter is struggling with her role as grownup with strong husband and mother dominating her life. Cattie, the namesake orphan runs away from her private school. Randall was the army guy, possible PTSD, who drives the car and saves the dogs. Plus, there is a serial killer on the news from Catherine's hometown. Individual sections were easy to read, but they just didn't connect for me into a whole cohesive story.Part of the problem is I couldn't see how the characters all connected, and some of them disappeared completely randomly. How the serial killer connected the disparate stories is also not clear to me. People are bound to their background, to their towns, to their traditions, and the killer bound his victims. Maybe that's the connection.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I've had a little difficulty getting through this book. The writing's okay, but Nelson gets a bit long-winded for my taste. The characters are interesting to read about, but I don't know if I believe any of them. On the positive side, there are many interesting story lines to navigate. Maybe my review will improve when I can finish the book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The novel never gelled for me. The subplot of a serial killer did not seem threatening and credible.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I was given the ARC to read and then give a honest review in exchange. When I was asked to be a tour host for this book...I was beyond excited. Since I haven't done too many yet. I have been wanting to read this series, but until now had yet to read anything from Elisabeth Naughton. I have to say after reading Bound, I can't believe that I haven't read her yet. For one thing I just love it when Greek Mythology (or any kind of mythology) is mixed in with the story plot. The author writes it in such a way that enthralls the reader from the very first page, and I found it near impossible to put it down. I love the focus and the detail that is very thoroughly portrayed through the story. Even though when I first started reading this, I was a bit lost since I hadn't read the previous books in the series, I did catch on after the first few chapters, and I found myself totally drawn in with the story. I also enjoyed how Naughton puts in serious issues that we all deal with in a paranormal themed romance that helps the reader connect with the characters and the story line in a very real way. The emotions that were so vividly portrayed were so heart wrenching at times, that I did cry a few times. It had such a powerful effect on my emotions, that I felt like I was being overwhelmed at times with a sea of emotional effect that takes you on a adventure to rival any. I also found some great qualities that came with this author's writing, and her unique style will just captivate you and before you know it, you have fallen in love with the story and the characters that will take your breath away. A Poignant and intense love story that will take you places you can only dream about. I am now totally addicted to this story, and I can't wait until I can get my hands on the other works in the series!!! A True Treasure that will excited you and charm you!! Plus how can you resist such a gorgeous cover...with the water trickling down in the sexiest way. Utterly irresistible!!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book really grabbed my attention from the opening sentence, from the point of view of a dog. Written from different characters' perspectives in each chapter, it was well done and completely held my interest. However, I found the references to the BTK serial killer unnecessary and pointless. Overall I really enjoyed Antonya Nelson's style and story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I love Antonya Nelson's writing, and this book doesn't disappoint. This is a novel about character more than about plot. Nelson protrays nuanced relationships in a masterful and realistic way. And she does it without using many words.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I was so excited when I won this book from goodreads. Bound is a character-driven drama that keeps you reading even though it doesn't have much of a story line. Antonya Nelson is a very talented author that describes everything in such detail that you find yourself visualizing it. Nelson's characters were so vivid and unique. The beginning of the book was particularly well written and intense. This book followed the characters in their journeys through life, but the problem is none of the characters really learned or grew from their journeys. I particularly liked the ending where it said you weren't stuck with just one name, that there were choices that could change everything. This book was a tad short and left me with some questions as to what happened to the characters, the most prominent question in my mind: Does Catherine ever find out about Oliver's affair and hook up with someone her own age? All in all, this was a good book and I'm glad that I got the opportunity to read it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was a really sweet book about some complicated people. A woman married to a much older adulterous man finds that she has become the guardian of "Catty," a 15 year old girl who is the daughter of her childhood best friend, who has passed away. She hasn't heard from this friend since they were both teenagers. Finding out about the existence of Catty opens up so many memories for Catherine of time spent with her mother when they were young, both about the fun they had and the mistakes they made. In the book, Catherine doesn't have any conflict with these memories, she merely enjoys them, and can look back at them from her place of contentment in the present. Catty is of course having her own emotional issues, after finding out that her mother has died in a car crash, she abandons her boarding school and goes to stay at the house of a school acquaintance. Catherine must spend time tracking her down. Much time is also spent on the perspective of Catherine's husband, who is currently cheating on her with a woman even younger than she is. During the book he also spends a lot of time visiting Catherine's mother, who never liked him, but has suffered a stroke which renders her mute. From the view of Catherine's husband, they are able to build a very fulfilling relationship now that she cannot speak. Catherine's mother's opinion is never consulted in this.Overall, the characters were beautiful and complex. It was pretty obvious that this author is a short story writer, however, because there just isn't much time wasted. She also tends to jump from one perspective to another fairly quickly. At the end of the book, though, I just wasn't sure what the point was. I felt like I must have been missing the second half of the book, and I was disappointed that I wasn't getting closure with the characters that the author leads you to care so much about.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Antonya Nelson's Bound is a book that holds lots of promise, but just doesn't seem to really get it togther to quite "bind" the story line.There is a meandering, stilted quality to this story. The characters are often people I just don't "get". There's Misty, who arrives to the story dead on the scene, with her dog sniffing her corpse, which is trapped in her car, after her car has inadvertently gone over a mountainside and into a ravine. Misty, an ultra reformed recovering addict and alcoholic, has just sent her prized daughter away from their Huston home, to a boarding school in Texas. She has apparently found the economic stability and suburban family life she completed lacked as a child. There is no father mentioned for her daughter, Cattie, and no real reason supplied as to why Misty sends her away, or why she has gone traveling to Colorado at this time. She does have memories of a vacation trip she took with her much more socially mobile best friend Catherine, but, no reason for this spur of the moment revisitation of a childhood memory is given.Meanwhile, we are introduced to Catherine, the third wife of a wealthy small town businessman. Catherine is attractive and completely vanilla. Her husband Oliver is a vigorous, fastidious gernaphobe of a man who is approaching seventy, and appears to collect lovers and wives of a younger vintage in an effort to stave off his own mortality. Catherine has no children of her own, and appears to spend her time caring for her ailing, ultra-feminist retired professor mother, who is in a local nursing home, breezing into her husband's businesses and caring for their two dogs. She and Oliver have separate bedrooms, and neither her husband or her mother seem to have much use for her any more - her husband boring of her, and her mother appalled by her apparent reliance on her attractiveness to "get by", rather than become a person of substance.When Cattie learns of her mother's death, she runs away from the boarding school, and eventually hooks up with an odd PTSD'd veteran, with whom she attempts to make it from New England back to Texas, with lots of sideshow oddness.Catherine, who explored her rebel oats in middle and high school with Misty, her BFF from the other side of the tracks, goes to visit her mother at the nursing home, and happens upon a letter sent to her weeks before, indicating she has been appointed guardian of Misty's daughter Cattie (which is, natch, short for Catherine). Her husband can't be bothered with this distraction, and he has his own maladapted spawn to contend with. Catherine seems in no particular hurry to discover much about this child, and seems to stumble and bumble her way to Misty's old place in Huston. She had lost touch with her old drugging/sexing/boozing pal Misty, and had no idea she had a child, much less that she would leave the child to Catherine.In the background of this story line, Nelson introduces the thread of a serial killer dormant for some year, who is now active again. This story line seemed promising, but like much of the rest of the book seems to go nowhere fast. the BTK killer turns out to be such a disappointing little thread, and I had a hard time seeing how it related to the rest of the story.The characters seem wooden and stilted. Their motivations are completely baffling and their reactions to jarring events seem muffled and distorted.Nelson's writing, her choice of words and descriptions are excellent, but I had more hopes for the plot line than what actually developed. It was an easy read, which flowed, and there were tensions, they just didn't seem to have a satisfying resolution.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I'm a real fan of Antonya Nelson, having first discovered her through a short story published in The New Yorker. I haven't read any reviews of this book yet so I'm not sure how it's been received. I'm not enjoying it as much as some of her other titles, The relationships don't feel real; I find most of them preposterous. Despite that, I wanted to know what Catherine's decision is about her godchild. And I like Oliver in spite of his self-centeredness.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    LuxuryReading.com Review - Nelson’s description of setting and place is truly mesmerizing, but the characters are only sort of likable. There are many characters that come and go throughout the novel. There are some that only appear a time or two and appear to have importance, but are later forgotten, one character simply walks out of the novel, while another one dies to tie up the loose end.The novel is riddled with many parallel plot lines. Some intersect and others only seem as though they may touch, but never actually do. This creates an element of suspense and in the end a bit of frustration. The anticipation of the story lines possibly intersecting will keep you reading. The novel is a quick read with only moments of depth. There are moments of brilliance hidden in this novel along with some unforgettable, vivid descriptions. For that alone, it could be worth the read, just don’t go in for the plot.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    An enjoyable enough book. I liked the content, and would be quite willing to recommend this to others!! Ms Nelson has a quick wit, and keeps a reader willing to continue. This is an entirely readable book, and I would, and will!, let others know that they need to discover this virtually unknown author! I think Ms Nelson will go far in her career in writing and can't wait for the day that she is a household name! Best of luck and I know that good things-Library Things, will be coming for you!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In the past I've always had trouble with Antonya Nelson's writing. It struck me as cluttered and distracted, hard to become immersed in.Thankfully, "Bound" changed that. Nelson's sentences can still be a bit busy and long-winded but her characters more than make up for it. Especially Cattie, a quiet 17-year-old whose seemingly matured attitude belies a sense of loss and bewilderment.Cattie is the ward of her late mother's best friend, Catherine, who learns of her charge only after the fact. Married to an older man, Catherine has always been the cared after and not the care-taker. Until her severe and disapproving mother is moved into a retirement home and Cattie's existence comes to light.The novel is set mainly in Wichita against the back-drop of the real life BKT killer. For the most part Nelson toggles between Catherine and her namesake but the scenes with Oliver, Catherine's self-absorbed, age-fearing husband, are delightful as well as worth a couple head shakes. Thanks to the author's deft touch he comes across as both irritating and wistful.This is a novel where the bulk of the action happens in the first 10 pages. But the repercussions are enough to sustain the reader through a story of discovery and joy.Recommended for readers who like Jean Thompson, Tessa Hadley and Margot Livesey.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This was the first time I read a book for Antonya Nelson, and I did it as part of the Early Reviewers program. I can see how her writing is definitely interesting, but overall I had a difficult time getting through the book (especially considering once I actually sat down to get into it, I realized it's really rather short). The book starts off slow with several different characters that seem disjointed. I found it challenging to keep track of who was who and figuring out how they were all connected. The story seems intriguing enough, with Catherine being named as the guardian for a teenage daughter of a long-forgotten high school friend who died unexpectedly. In the background lies the story of a serial killer who has made a reappearance after years of being dormant. However, it doesn't ever feel like this side story fully connects with the main plot points.The story takes place mainly in Wichita, Kansas, and I did enjoy the way Catherine showed young Cattie the city through her eyes - the way her past is entangled in the physical structure of the city, and how each place can hold disparate memories for her. It was a nice way to show how a person lives through and grows with a city. I also enjoyed the attachment to dogs, and how they were shown as such an integral part of the characters' lives.Overall, I would not recommend the book to a friend, and I will probably largely forget the story within a few weeks.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Though I enjoyed some of the perspectives, like that of the dog at the beginning, I never really felt connected to the characters.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Catherine Desplaines of Wichita, Kansas, becomes the guardian of Cattie, the daughter of Misty Mueller, Catherine's best friend from high school. This guardianship comes as a shock since the two had been out of touch for years, but the bond that develops between Catherine and her namesake ward allows both to connect with Misty in a way they had not been able to do before. Catherine was refined and privileged whereas Misty came from the wrong side of the tracks. Drawn to Misty's free spirit, the two teenagers explored alcohol, drugs and sex before drifting apart. Catherine eventually chose the "container of civilization"(3) by marrying Oliver, a much older entrepreneur, and settled into an uneventful marriage, a Valium marriage in which the two are "committed to a mutual dulled slumber" (68). Misty chose the "window into the wild" (3) but somehow managed to become a very successful real estate agent.Catherine and Cattie's points of view are given but so is that of Oliver, Catherine's husband. Manipulative and vain and with a fear of aging, he is a serial adulterer who is currently having an affair with the much younger Sweetheart. Oliver is the most obvious example of a character who has secrets and leads a double life; he even compares himself to BTK, the Wichita serial killer who had a "desire to have it both ways, to be the upstanding citizen as well as the fiend" (222). Catherine has a "more colorful past than her husband knows." How Misty moved from poverty to affluence remains a secret. Dr. Grace Harding, Catherine's mother, suffered a stroke and cannot speak so her secrets also remain.As the title clearly indicates, the theme of the novel is the ties that bind. Characters are bound to their pasts, their families and their friends. Sometimes these bonds are difficult and painful, as is Catherine's bond with her mother. Sometimes they carry obligations: Catherine feels responsible for Cattie though she knows that Misty's guardianship request "was not legally binding" (100). What I liked about the novel is the concise observations about people and life. I did occasionally find myself highlighting phrases and descriptions that caught my attention: "The [retirement] home wasn't classy enough to require kindness from its employees" (35).What I did not admire about the book is its strict adherence to writing course lessons. Would-be writers are taught to unify; Nelson's use of the Mueller's dog at the beginning and the end is such an obvious attempt to do exactly this. Writing instructors talk about how to develop theme through a title, repetition (symbols, ideas), and the conclusion. Nelson followed all these lessons in a very ham-fisted way. For example, referring to the BTK killer, who first bound his victims, is a clumsy method of theme development. Catherine, the character in the novel, and Antonya Nelson, the author, have something in common. Catherine, psychologically and emotionally, seems to be more a teenager than an adult: "in possession of all the markers of adulthood . . . entitled to claim the role, but still . . . nagged by teenage unease" (61). The author is entitled to claim the role of writer, but her novel has the techniques of a beginning writer.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    All in all, a rather average book. I never really became interested in the characters and their lives. Generally, a book in which not much happens and one that is easily forgettable.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It is hard for me to write a clear review for this book. I guess to begin with, this book is not my cup of tea. It has all the elements of being a book that I would enjoy - there is a serial killer in the background, there are troubled/strained relationships of all different kinds (family, marriages, friendships, etc.)...this should be a book that I really like. But it just didn't really do it for me. While I think it is a good book - the writing is quite good, the characters are interesting - there doesn't really seem to be anything happening here. Not that this is supposed to be a thriller or anything, but there is minimal action. There is maximum description. I mean...a huge amount of description. Too much. Rather than providing actual events in the story, the writer chose to include descriptions of everything and everyone, no matter how unimportant to the general plot. That being said, I liked how she would switch from describing the present to describing the past and back again - that was an interesting tactic. There isn't too much to say other than that. If you enjoy books that really delve into relationships and "the ties that bind us," then this will probably be a good book for you.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a great book, and a quick read. I love it when you can trace lines through the whole book - this has several. Dogs. Daughters. Killers. The most interesting character is the big shot in the small town, who gets away with everything and ignores unattractive women. The only man in the entire story other than the serial killer. He's not a caretaker or a good husband or a good father. He's delusioned about himself, which you know the moment you meet him but is still revealed slowly through the book. Old people. Old friends. I had friends like this; we made pacts that I can't imagine being held to - and if a long lost high school friend died, leaving a child suddenly in my care...Pay attention to how the word "bound" fits in and around the plot and character struggles. The story seems to be larger than the sum of its parts. Maybe because it took me a while to get into it. I like it better that way. Follow the dogs. I think they weave the most fluid line through the story. I can recommended it with no caveats.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This isn't a long book but it felt like it was...although the writing is excellent, and the characters are richly drawn and described, this feels like a book about nothing. I kept waiting for the book to start, and then it was over. Add to that a mix of characters who are all sort of aimless, and ethereal, and vague in thought and action....you get the picture. On the good news side, Nelson is obviously a talented writer, and throughout the book there were phrases and descriptions that I wanted to highlight and remember.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    An interesting novel with some interesting characters that are written well. There is an aging serial adulterer on his third wife and looking for his fourth, an AWOL young Army man suffering from PTSD, a teenage loner who has been orphaned, and a peculiarly ambivalent woman who is about to become the guardian for an orphaned teen she has never met. Tie it all together with the background noise of an aging serial killer. And dogs – yes, dogs are used as a recurring motif, including puppies.It’s a good read though. It’s not at first obvious how the disparate characters will be drawn together, which is generally a good thing since it keeps the reader guessing. Nelson is an excellent writer.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Bound is a difficult book for me to review, simply because I care so very little about it. The characters were fine. The plot was OK. The writing was inoffensive but not particularly skilled. There was an entire subplot about a serial killer that seemed to be completely pointless, mostly because the tension wasn't built appropriately, and the resolution of said subplot was underwhelming.I was left with the feeling that this book needed to be both much longer, and much shorter. Nothing was really developed very well, yet it seemed like the author went on and on about every detail. Overall, though I appreciate receiving it from the Goodreads First Reads program, the book was highly unsatisfying and I wouldn't recommend it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The story starts off well: a blend of mystery, curious circumstances and precise descriptions, there is an atmosphere of confusion which piqued my interest and enticed me to learn more. From there, the story develops in a series of flat portraits, disconnected reminiscences and flashes into the past in which the characters are connected with biographical precision but no meaningful emotion.I disliked all the characters: Catherine is vapid and stupid, Oliver manipulative and vain and Cattie bland. Misty had some potential; shroud with an air of mystery, having overcome the odds of poverty, she stands out as having a tough multifaceted personality, but this is not explored and ultimately the reader learns nothing about her motivations and growth.Finally, I found that this book had no aim: the characters don't really evolve or grow; they don't learn any lessons; there is no epiphany; the serial killings in the background were, as far as I can tell, a way of rallying the community, a discussion around fate, but those interpretations are tenuous at best... the ending is a vague attempt at reconciling two characters from the beginning that had nothing to do with the main story... dull, pointless stuff.The title is the element that ended up intriguing me most: Bound to what? The past, one's history, family, one's geographical location, community? Bound homeward or to some other destination? I can only guess.Well-written but bland and disappointing.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    A quick read with no real substance to the book. I felt like the story of the killer was forced and didn't really have much to do with the rest of the book.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    The most appealing feature of this book is it's length. It's short. Blissfully so. Flat, dull, meandering.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The first 2/3s of this book held a great deal of promise, with good character development and the author's usual gift of establishing a strong sense of place and time. The disparate plot lines that I erroneously assumed would eventually be 'bound' together, all seemed to fizzle out in a deeply unsatisfying way. What became of Randall? What function did repeatedly referencing a serial killer serve? The initial meeting of the Catherines, so long in the making, wasn't even mentioned; turn a page and they were abruptly together and comfortable with eachother.I've admired this author's past works, but I'm afraid in the end, this one disappoints.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Bound was ultimately an unsatisfying read for me. The beginning really hooked me in, and I had high hopes for the novel as a whole. Nelson's characters are interesting and she describes them very well. But somehow, despite her descriptive skill, her narration seems to me to be so removed as to be uninvolving. Her omniscent narration leaves me feeling as if she has created interesting people but that she doesn't really know them. To my mind, the most interesting character was neither of the female protagonists, but the philandering older husband.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Bound is a story that takes its name from the BTK Killer, and much of the story’s action takes place in Wichita, Kansas, the killer’s hunting ground in the late 1970s. Fast forward 30 years, and he is assumed dead. To prove that he’s still there, he starts releasing information to the media, proof that he went dormant but did not disappear. The citizens of Wichita are not alone in their fascination with the tale, watching the events closely until the killer’s identity is revealed, and he is arrested. It’s an interesting story. However, it doesn’t do a lot to move along the plot of the story, so it’s not entirely clear why it’s such a recurrent theme in the story. In fact, Nelson’s attempts to keep his narrative going throughout her own seem forced. Her story is about being “bound” by the ties of friendship, by shared experiences, and by obligation. It has very little to do with a serial killer.The story focuses on the ties that bind Catherine to Cattie, her namesake and the daughter of her best childhood friend. When Cattie's mother dies in a car accident while she is away at boarding school, Cattie thinks that she is all alone in the world. She "disappears" to avoid ending up in foster care. Meanwhile, Catherine learns that she has been named the girl's guardian and must decide how she is going to proceed. Their paths finally cross when Cattie decides to return to Houston and is found by the police a on the road not far from Wichita. Catherine, in Houston to handle Misty's estate, has her husband pick Cattie up and bring her home. The two Catherine's quickly bond. The emptiness that Cattie knew she was feeling is somewhat alleviated, and the hole that Catherine does not even know she has her in her life is filled by teenager's presence. Through their bond, they are both able to reconnect with Misty in a way that neither would have ever been able to do had she lived.The most interesting, and most poignant, bond that forged in this story, however, has very little to do with Catherine or Cattie. When Catherine makes her trip to Houston, her husban, Oliver, agrees to visit her mother in the nursing home where she has lived since having a stroke. The two have never gotten along; Oliver is just a few years younger than Dr. Grace Harding, and she has always felt that he married her daughter so that he could have a "trophy". On this particular visit, however, they are able to bond over a virtual trip to Rome. The two adversaries are able to realize they have more in common than they would have expected.The story is very well-written; Nelson's command of the language is unquestioned. She is more known for her short fiction, and her skill in that area is made apparent throughout the novel. Each chapter is told almost as a story in and of itself. This approach can work very effectively when the stories are only thematically related and not meant to be telling an on-going story about a set group of characters (see Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles). It is not as effective here; the different threads are meant to be woven together, but she leaves too many dangling. The beauty of the individual stories is diminished by the attempt to make them all work together.Overall, it is a very pleasant read. In this case, however, the parts outshine the whole.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I got this book from Library Thing's Early Reviewers program. I have no real quibbles with the book, except that it's largely forgettable. I read it in two days - the story certainly carries you along and the characters are well-drawn (which I understand is Antonya Nelson's forte). But it left me with more questions that I started with. And, well, I wanted something to HAPPEN. But, as a character study, it is a nicely done book, and well written. Just don't ask me what it was about a month from now...