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Sweet Damage

A Novel

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
From the internationally bestselling author of Beautiful Malice comes a captivating novel of psychological suspense about love and friendship, loyalty and betrayal—perfect for readers of S. J. Watson and Lisa Unger.
 
Tim Ellison feels lucky when he finds a cheap place to rent in his dream location, close to the restaurant where he works as a chef, and even closer to his favorite surf spot at Sydney’s popular Manly Beach. But the cavernous house is infused with a sense of foreboding, and his furnished room there comes with a condition: He must look after the mansion’s mysterious owner.
 
Anna London is withdrawn and frail, a twenty-year-old with the inexplicable demeanor and habits of an elderly woman. From her grand home on the hill, she can see the city and the ocean, but she can never leave. Her anxieties keep her locked inside, unable to face the outside world.
 
As Tim settles in, he struggles to get to know the person who depends on him for food and care. Slowly, Anna reveals glimpses of herself—her history, her sadness, her crippling fears. And then strange things begin to happen: loud banging in the night, unexplained figures in the shadows, sinister messages on the walls. Tim is startled to find that even as his unease about the house grows, he is increasingly attracted to its hauntingly beautiful owner. But is Anna London someone to pity, someone to love, or someone to fear?
 
Taut and intense, Sweet Damage is an addictive novel about vulnerability, obsession, and duplicity, with a modern Gothic twist.
Praise for Sweet Damage
 
“As the feelings between Tim and Anna intensify, so do the weird happenings inside their home . . . as well as the urge to turn the novel’s pages and find out what happens next.”All You
 
“There are some surprises, and the characters are appealing—and, in one case, awful—enough to keep the pages turning.”Booklist
 
“Rebecca James weaves an engaging and well-depicted tale. . . . The tension and suspense mount almost imperceptibly. . . . [For readers] who like atmospheric psychological thrillers.”Crime Review
 
“Touches of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca haunt the novel, mixed with . . . social issues, sex and identity.”Booktrust
 
Praise for Rebecca James and Beautiful Malice
 
“Utterly gripping! Rebecca James is an exciting new writer.”—Cecelia Ahern, author of PS, I Love You
 
“[An] impressive debut . . . This unflinching exploration of psychological manipulation and the tragedies it creates introduces a promising new talent in literary suspense.”Publishers Weekly (starred review)
 
“As the truth unfolds towards a devastating climax, no one escapes untouched. . . . One can only imagine what else Rebecca James has up her sleeve.”The Daily Mail
 
“A good, suspenseful, psychological thriller . . . worthy of passing on to friends.”The Roanoke Times
 
“Powerfully emotional . . . a mesmerizing story.”—Wichita Falls Times Record News
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    • Booklist

      December 15, 2014
      For the soon-to-be-homeless Tim, the opportunity seems too good to be true: a spacious room in a lavish mansion for only $100 per week! The only hitch: he must perform the occasional errand for the house's owner, 20-year-old Anna, who is agoraphobic, and, thus, housebound. No worries there, and he is soon ensconced in his new digs. But then strange things begin to happen: he finds his room filled with spiders; strange figures begin appearing in the night; a message of death appears scrawled on a wall in paint the color of blood. And Anna? Well, beautiful, withdrawn Anna remains an enigma, but Tim finds himself drawn to her; however, is she the one responsible for the, well, incidents? The questions are ultimately resolved in a not terribly surprising denouement. Indeed, though billed as a psychological thriller, the book is long on the former and stingy on the latter, the thrills sometimes undone by a too-poky pace. That aside, there are some surprises, and the characters are appealingand, in one case, awfulenough to keep the pages turning. Give this one an E for effort.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

    • Library Journal

      July 1, 2014

      Having won international fame with her novel Beautiful Malice, Australian author James returns with more over-the-top psychological suspense. Tim Ellison is thrilled to have found the ideal room to rent, though 20-year-old landlady Anna London is cold, distant, and fragile despite her youth. It's scary when things start going bump in the night, even scarier when Tim falls for Anna and her past comes into play.

      Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Books+Publishing

      March 5, 2013

      Sweet Damage is the hotly anticipated new book from Rebecca James, whose debut YA thriller Beautiful Malice generated much hype around her reported million dollar advance and extensive foreign rights deals. Similarly pitched at the YA/adult crossover market, this psycho-mystery thriller throws us into another tangled web of seductively poisonous relationships—this time from a male perspective. When Tim answers an ad for a cheap, furnished room in Sydney, he can’t believe his luck. The only catch is his new flatmate Anna, an emotionally brittle girl suffering from extreme agoraphobia. Drawn within her dark and oppressive world, disturbing things begin to emerge, and Tim suspects Anna might be less harmless than she appears. Expectations for this northern-beaches gothic melodrama are undeniably high. While lacking the subtleties of its predecessor, this is a confident second novel from James, tapping into our deepest fears about trust and vulnerability, and showing off her forte for capturing the sinister manipulations between friends and lovers. James writes psychological horror for women well and her strong female characters—good, bad and mad—reflect this. While the curious flatness of this story’s protagonist somewhat dampens its emotional impact, like Beautiful Malice this book is so effortlessly readable you’re left wanting more.

      Meredith Lewin is a Sydney-based freelance proofreader and reviewer who has worked for a children’s publisher 

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