Murder Your Darlings

 
Hotshot author William Corwyn is being stalked by someone only known as The Rabbit, but who is clearly female. Sam/Simone Vetiver is also a successful author but she’s suffering from a serious case of writer’s block. As she comes into William’s orbit, he offers to help her out and they begin a sizzling affair which Sam hopes will turn out to be something more serious.
 
From the outset, it is clear that William is arrogant and unpleasant, even a touch creepy.  He’s sexist, manipulative and exploitative, so it’s puzzling why so many smart, educated women seem to fall under his spell. But those who do all have a common weakness – they are desperately lonely, often lacking in self-esteem but have dreams of being recognised as published authors, so when William takes an unexpected intense interest in them, they are flattered and fail to realise he has ulterior motives that sets them on a fatal path.
 
The three points of view are all well-written, the pace never falters and the conclusion is satisfying, if not unexpected.  But, for any reader who has now read far too many novels in which gullible young women are the victims of older, unscrupulous men, this tends towards cliché, and the salacious descriptions of incessant bedroom acrobatics are just yawn-inducing rather than titillating.
 
Three stars.
 
Many thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC.
 
(Publication links to come.)
 
PS  As a further comment on dated scenarios, when are authors/screenwriters going to stop with the suggestion that people’s passwords to their computers are their birthdays or other significant dates that can be cracked quickly in high pressure situations?

We now have such complicated passwords with upwards of 15 symbols, letters, numbers, as well as finger or facial recognition, not to mention a complete lock-out after three failed attempts, there is no way you can break into a personal laptop with minutes to spare!

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