February 2015

Lisa Unger has a knack for writing the kind of edgy psychological thriller that lures you in and wraps itself around you Then, just when you think I got this story nailed, she whooshes you off into another direction. When you settle there, you know you better not get comfortable. When I finished CRAZY LOVE YOU, I still was wondering if I got the ending right. I was paying rapt attention to the story, but what character was I supposed to rely upon?

The story seems to be a tale we know. There’s a boy, Ian, who was overweight as a child, and Priss was the girl in his small Upstate New York town who always was there for him. She was his refuge when he was being bullied and tortured. But as is apt to happen, Ian’s life has taken a turn for the better. He has moved to New York City, where he has developed a career as a successful graphic novelist. Priss is still part of his life, but she has not cleaned up her unhealthy habits of drinking and taking drugs, and wants to keep colluding with Ian. But as Ian finds a woman he loves --- the kind of woman who men change for --- Priss reels out in anger. She liked needy Ian; this new person is someone she cannot relate to. Obsession and all its creepy tentacles wrap themselves into this story.

And if things were not crazy enough, toss in some secrets that really spin your head around.

As you read, see at what point you, like me, think I wonder what was --- and is --- real here. It’s just brilliant! Once again, I would like to be a fly on the wall when Lisa writes, as I appreciate how she layers her plotlines together; I would love to watch her construct her story!