Review: Alice Close Your Eyes by Averil Dean

Goodreads Summary:

With haunting prose and deft psychological insight, Averil Dean spins a chilling story that explores the dark corners of obsession–love, pain and revenge.

Ten years ago, someone ruined Alice Croft's life. Now she has a chance to right that wrong–and she thinks she's found the perfect man to carry out her plan. After watching him for weeks, she breaks into Jack Calabrese's house to collect the evidence that will confirm her hopes. When Jack comes home unexpectedly, Alice hides in the closet, fearing for her life. But upon finding her, Jack is strangely calm, solicitous . . . and intrigued.

That night is the start of a dark and intense attraction, and soon Alice finds herself drawn into a labyrinth of terrifying surrender to a man who is more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. As their relationship spirals toward a breaking point, Alice begins to see just how deep Jack's secrets run–and how deadly they could be.

Publication Date: December 31, 2013

This book was dark! Much darker than I expected and I had to put the book down because of the strong emotions I felt as I read it. The author has an obvious talent for writing erotic thrillers that will hook you from the very beginning.

There are no heroes and heroines in Alice Close Your Eyes—the novel is made up of f*cked up individuals who are damaged and mentally unstable. Alice may have been the worse of them all and readers are likely to find her an unreliable narrative. I liked reading her chaotic thoughts; it made me uncertain over what direction the book was heading.

Alice has major issues, including serious criminal tendencies, but Jack was harder to read. He’s violent, possessive and at times, a sadist. Although the author gives readers a deep psychological analysis on Alice, I wanted to know more about Jack and his past to understand his behaviors. The sex is violent and disturbing and I have to give the author kudos for not shying away from the raw honesty of Alice’s emotions during the acts.

The plot gripped me and although I’ve been in a bit of a reading rut, I found myself eager to finish the book as swiftly as possible. The mysteries surrounding Alice and her connection to Jack are revealed gradually and I loved the slow build of the suspenseful elements.

The ending is a bit of a mind f*ck and I’m not sure how I feel about it. However, the more I stew on it, I feel like the author did end things in a satisfactory manner. I can’t imagine any other conclusion to Alice’s revenge scheme.

If you’re a fan of books like Gone Girl and Consequences, then you should add this to your TBR pile. I anticipate this to create a lot of buzz when it’s released next month.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this novel for review!