The Book Of You: A Novel

Like the bestselling novels of Gillian Flynn and S. J. Watson, The Book of You—an utterly original fiction debut—is a sophisticated psychological thriller that will haunt you long after it reaches its terrifying, breathtaking conclusion.

Most people dread the prospect of jury duty, but university administrator Clarissa wants nothing more than to be selected for a trial. Every day she serves means a day away from her job and, more important, the unwanted attentions of her colleague Rafe. An academic expert on the darker side of folk tales, he has always unnerved Clarissa. She spent one drunken night with him while mourning the demise of a previous relationship, an inexplicable decision she can only attribute to her break-up. Rafe, however, sees things differently. The encounter, which may not have been as consensual as Clarissa originally believes, only serves to fuel his growing obsession with her—and he is not about to let her slip away.

The Book of You is a visceral, riveting portrait of a woman terrorized—emotionally and physically—by a man bent on possessing her completely. It is a chilling saga of predator and prey; as a disturbingly violent crime unfolds in front of her in court, Clarissa finds herself experiencing a different, but equally harrowing, nightmare in real life. Rafe’s taunts become more sinister by the day, but each carefully calibrated assault is designed to devastate her without ever crossing the line of the law. Realizing that she bears the burden of proof, Clarissa knows she is powerless unless she can hold out long enough to amass sufficient evidence against him. Piece by piece, she uncovers the twisted, macabre fairytale Rafe has spun around them both, discovering that the happy ending he envisions is more awful than she could have ever imagined.

Deftly constructed around an achingly convincing narrative, The Book of You explores the darkest corners of the human heart, where the lines between love and suffocation, fantasy and reality, can become dangerously blurred. A riveting story about Clarissa’s desperate attempts to escape the nightmare in which Rafe traps her, it is also a profoundly moving story about one woman’s will to survive.