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A carregar... He Counts Their Tears (edição 2015)por Mary Ann D'Alto (Autor)
Informação Sobre a ObraHe Counts Their Tears por Mary Ann D'Alto
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Adira ao LibraryThing para descobrir se irá gostar deste livro. Ainda não há conversas na Discussão sobre este livro. In this gripping psychological thriller, author Mary Ann D’Alto tells the story of a man who looks perfect on the outside but is pure evil on the inside. Aaron Stein is an incredibly successful fertility specialist, and using his unique skill set of medical knowledge and his easy access to insecure and frightened women, he is able to serially psychologically manipulate and physically harm. But his sin doesn’t come without a price: we first meet Stein while he literally stands on the edge of suicide, prompted by his guilt and shame. When Aaron’s latest victimization takes an unexpected turn, will his sweet cousin Constance be able to get him through? Or will his crimes catch up to him? Personally, I had a very hard time putting this down. I started out thinking I’d just a read a little before bed, and before I knew it, it was four a.m. and I was finished. The only thing I wasn’t crazy about was the lack of complexity in Aaron’s Stein’s character: the clean-cut, successful psychopath is such a trope at this point that Aaron’s movements at times were a little predictable. Things that were maybe supposed to shock, like his callous responses to the pleading of his victims, his incredible success as a doctor and external perfection, and his internal turmoil over whether or not he’s actually evil, have all been done in Patrick Bateman, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, and tons of other “perfect psychopath” roles. But while this irked me a little, it may be an attractive quality for other people. After all, tropes are tropes because they resonate with readers on some level. What redeemed this book from a potentially predictable route was the quality of the writing and the uniqueness of Mary Ann D’Alto’s voice. Typically, literature that features the “perfect psychopath”—The Silence of the Lambs, American Psycho, etc.—tends to have the same very succinct, bare, and matter-of-fact tone that reflects how an actual sociopath thinks. Writing in those types of books tends to stay away from too much internal doubt, expanded description, or floweriness. He Counts Their Tears is a rare exception, with D’Alto sparing no ornate description: “the dark brown coffee made a huge puddle on the pale grey rug. Aaron stared at it, and in his mind it was the [spoiler!]’s blood, and he was sixteen again. Instinctively, he wiped his hands on the tablecloth, and in doing so caused the cloth to move. As it moved, one of the glass candlesticks fell onto the table, its flame creating a small bonfire in the pinecone centerpiece” (Page 51). D’Alto is also extremely skilled at creating genuine connections between her characters, and, unlike many other psychological thriller authors, keeps her list of connections short and meaningful. Without going into too much detail, the relationship between Stein and his cousin Constance is masterfully drawn out from childhood until the end, and we are provided just enough detail to fill in the meaningful gaps ourselves. Overall, I can’t recommend this one enough. Whether you’re a regular reader of psychological thrillers, fascinated with psychopaths, or just looking for an addictive read, this is definitely the novel for you. Review at The Hungry Monster Book Review In this gripping psychological thriller, author Mary Ann D’Alto tells the story of a man who looks perfect on the outside but is pure evil on the inside. Aaron Stein is an incredibly successful fertility specialist, and using his unique skill set of medical knowledge and his easy access to insecure and frightened women, he is able to serially psychologically manipulate and physically harm. But his sin doesn’t come without a price: we first meet Stein while he literally stands on the edge of suicide, prompted by his guilt and shame. When Aaron’s latest victimization takes an unexpected turn, will his sweet cousin Constance be able to get him through? Or will his crimes catch up to him? Personally, I had a very hard time putting this down. I started out thinking I’d just a read a little before bed, and before I knew it, it was four a.m. and I was finished. The only thing I wasn’t crazy about was the lack of complexity in Aaron’s Stein’s character: the clean-cut, successful psychopath is such a trope at this point that Aaron’s movements at times were a little predictable. Things that were maybe supposed to shock, like his callous responses to the pleading of his victims, his incredible success as a doctor and external perfection, and his internal turmoil over whether or not he’s actually evil, have all been done in Patrick Bateman, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, and tons of other “perfect psychopath” roles. But while this irked me a little, it may be an attractive quality for other people. After all, tropes are tropes because they resonate with readers on some level. What redeemed this book from a potentially predictable route was the quality of the writing and the uniqueness of Mary Ann D’Alto’s voice. Typically, literature that features the “perfect psychopath”—The Silence of the Lambs, American Psycho, etc.—tends to have the same very succinct, bare, and matter-of-fact tone that reflects how an actual sociopath thinks. Writing in those types of books tends to stay away from too much internal doubt, expanded description, or floweriness. He Counts Their Tears is a rare exception, with D’Alto sparing no ornate description: “the dark brown coffee made a huge puddle on the pale grey rug. Aaron stared at it, and in his mind it was the [spoiler!]’s blood, and he was sixteen again. Instinctively, he wiped his hands on the tablecloth, and in doing so caused the cloth to move. As it moved, one of the glass candlesticks fell onto the table, its flame creating a small bonfire in the pinecone centerpiece” (Page 51). D’Alto is also extremely skilled at creating genuine connections between her characters, and, unlike many other psychological thriller authors, keeps her list of connections short and meaningful. Without going into too much detail, the relationship between Stein and his cousin Constance is masterfully drawn out from childhood until the end, and we are provided just enough detail to fill in the meaningful gaps ourselves. Overall, I can’t recommend this one enough. Whether you’re a regular reader of psychological thrillers, fascinated with psychopaths, or just looking for an addictive read, this is definitely the novel for you. Review at The Hungry Monster Book Review sem críticas | adicionar uma crítica
Prémios
A handsome, successful, charming man. Healer. Miracle maker. Aaron Stein is all those things. Behind the benevolent facade, however, hides a monster: a destroyer of souls who lusts after power and control. Aaron plays his ruse again and again with unsuspecting women who genuinely believe that they have met their new "best friend," their "soul mate." Covert hypnosis, edgy trysts, psychological warfare - they're all part of the sick game he plays "to have all the power" ...until his secret life is threatened by a series of events he never sees coming. Will his devoted cousin, Constance, succeed in protecting him, just as she has throughout his entire life? And what exactly is it that she does to protect him? Is she a murderer, or is she simply devoted to him? Are they merely cousins (possibly, once, long ago, lovers), or are they partners in crime? Did Aaron learn his evil ways from her, or was he born a psychopath? In the end, these answers will make no difference in the lives of the women who, each in turn, are charmed into becoming his victims." Não foram encontradas descrições de bibliotecas. |
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The story showcases a parade of women who fall under Aaron’s spell... Lucy, Celeste, Ruth,.. there are too many to mention. Aaron charms women for the mere pleasure of destroying them, he is a crusher of dreams, a serial killer of souls. I, the reader, am even a victim too because no matter how obvious it was and how many times I read the same thing happening in yet another woman’s life, I kept on hoping against my better judgement that Aaron would show a sign of remorse, that he would have a revelation and would change his ways, that something would happen to stop it happening over and over again. But no such luck. Aaron is a true and unadulterated evil person, there’s not a morsel of good in his whole body.
I believe this book will receive a diversity of opinions, there will be readers who will love this and other who will hate it. Me, I'm still stuck somewhere in the middle because I felt it had ups and downs. I found the final part of the book really a lot better than the first because the beginning are just short accounts of what he does to the women in his life he sets his sights on. Not only does Aaron repeat himself a lot, the women fall into his trap time and time again. After the first few, I really got the picture and wanted the story to move along to something else. It’s all presented a little over-easy, they see him and all fall head over heels in love with him (he also uses a bit of covert-hypnosis and, how convenient, every woman is susceptible to this). Aaron is a narcissist in the true meaning of the word, he has practically no emotions other than thoughts about being caught and even then he is so confident that I really hated him. He’s not a likeable character and was obviously not meant to be one but I still missed some diversity, some humanity. If he really is like this, he could just as well also be a coldhearted and calculated killer. Then again, maybe he is or will be in the second novel. That is something to look forward to. Towards the ending though, he is presented with a challenge that was a welcome change from his usual game and it even got a surge of suspense. I really liked that surprise which kept me turning the pages to know how he could get out of this situation that fell upon him and I wanted to hear what really happened. I felt a little disappointed though that not all questions were answered by the end, several remain to be unveiled in the next volume. ( )