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The Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets
Winnie Parker, mother to an angst-ridden teenage daughter and ex-wife to a successful game show host who left her for a twenty-something contestant, begins a normal day in her hum-drum existence by dropping her car off at the repair shop. After accepting what she believes is a ride to pick up her rental car, Winnie realizes too late that she's been kidnapped.
What follows is a riveting psychological game of cat and mouse set in the kidnapper's tropically heated house—kept that way for Cookie, a menacing seven-foot long Iguana headquartered in the kitchen. While desperately seeking to escape—which leads to several violent clashes with her increasingly unstable kidnapper—Winnie also tries to understand why she was taken captive. Is her kidnapper merely seeking a ransom or does he have something more sinister in mind? Does he know that Winnie's mother is an Oscar-winning actress? Or did he connect her with Jonathan, her famous ex-husband? When the truth reveals itself, Winnie is not only forced to fight for her life, but must also protect the lives of those she loves from the kidnapper's deranged master plan.
An engrossing, darkly humorous, edge-of-your-seat story, The Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets explores the dynamic between kidnapper and kidnapped, bizarre reptile lore, and the absurdity of the celebrity lifestyle.
Diana Wagman is the author of the novels Bump, Spontaneous—which won the PEN Center USA Award for Fiction—and Skin Deep. She is also a contributing writer to the Los Angeles Times.
What follows is a riveting psychological game of cat and mouse set in the kidnapper's tropically heated house—kept that way for Cookie, a menacing seven-foot long Iguana headquartered in the kitchen. While desperately seeking to escape—which leads to several violent clashes with her increasingly unstable kidnapper—Winnie also tries to understand why she was taken captive. Is her kidnapper merely seeking a ransom or does he have something more sinister in mind? Does he know that Winnie's mother is an Oscar-winning actress? Or did he connect her with Jonathan, her famous ex-husband? When the truth reveals itself, Winnie is not only forced to fight for her life, but must also protect the lives of those she loves from the kidnapper's deranged master plan.
An engrossing, darkly humorous, edge-of-your-seat story, The Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets explores the dynamic between kidnapper and kidnapped, bizarre reptile lore, and the absurdity of the celebrity lifestyle.
Diana Wagman is the author of the novels Bump, Spontaneous—which won the PEN Center USA Award for Fiction—and Skin Deep. She is also a contributing writer to the Los Angeles Times.
240 pages, Paperback
First published November 6, 2012
8 people are currently reading
461 people want to read
About the author
Diana Wagman
12 books35 followersDiana Wagman is the author of five novels. Her second, Spontaneous, won the 2001 PEN West Award for Fiction. Her latest is Life #6 from Ig Publishing. She is an occasional contributor to the Los Angeles Times and has been published in many literary journals, most recently Black Clock and the n+1 anthology, MFA vs NYC.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews
December 27, 2024
It was ok. I feel like I've read this story before just with a different set of window dressing (without a big iguana).
December 5, 2024
Man, Diana Wagman is creepy! In the best possible way! I've only read two of her books (the other being Skin Deep,) but they've both just got under my skin so, so very far and festered there. I'm going to read all the way through her backlist -- what a hidden talent.
December 3, 2012
I can't remember where I saw this book reviewed, but something made me reserve it. I should have quit halfway through, but I kept waiting for it to get better. Sadly, the whole novel was very predictable with unimaginative characters and plot. Don't waste your time. If you want to read a book with a giant lizard, choose Russell Banks' Lost Memory of Skin instead.
July 22, 2015
I finished CARE AND FEEDING three weeks ago, and it has stuck with me since. I still find myself thinking back on it.
What engaged me most about the book was how terrifyingly plausible it was. The protagonist’s first mistake is completely feasible, and her predicament thereafter utterly desperate. I found myself looking for ways Winnie could escape her situation and at other times bemoaning attempts she made to free herself. The antagonist of the story was at once harmless and capable of anything. Oren is dangerous because the author has constructed circumstances around him that are simple, even ordinary, and then demonstrated how truly inescapable this environment could seem to anyone who happened upon it.
At Wagman’s hand, the presumptions I had made based on the synopsis alone were quickly called into question, then rendered improbable, and finally reduced to an unlikely and nervous hope, all but discarded.
If her handling of the story itself is not enough to recommend this book, I would also like to applaud the author for her character development. For some readers, it might be enough to have an obvious good guy, an obvious bad guy, and a suspenseful plot for them to run through. Fortunes have been made on exactly that. In CARE AND FEEDING, Wagman also gives us beautifully drawn characters (four or five of them, but especially the protagonist and antagonist) who are at all times authentic. Individually, they rationalize their imperfections and struggle to be better people and act with purpose. Together, they clash over very different goals and navigate each other like landmines. All of the characters showcased here are in their own way exotic and in need of special handling if you take the time to understand how.
I’ve spent longer reading more well-known fiction that doesn’t cross my mind again until I’m thinning out my bookshelf months later and remember I read it. This is not that book. I immediately selected another of Wagman’s books to read next, and I ordered it in hardcover.
What engaged me most about the book was how terrifyingly plausible it was. The protagonist’s first mistake is completely feasible, and her predicament thereafter utterly desperate. I found myself looking for ways Winnie could escape her situation and at other times bemoaning attempts she made to free herself. The antagonist of the story was at once harmless and capable of anything. Oren is dangerous because the author has constructed circumstances around him that are simple, even ordinary, and then demonstrated how truly inescapable this environment could seem to anyone who happened upon it.
At Wagman’s hand, the presumptions I had made based on the synopsis alone were quickly called into question, then rendered improbable, and finally reduced to an unlikely and nervous hope, all but discarded.
If her handling of the story itself is not enough to recommend this book, I would also like to applaud the author for her character development. For some readers, it might be enough to have an obvious good guy, an obvious bad guy, and a suspenseful plot for them to run through. Fortunes have been made on exactly that. In CARE AND FEEDING, Wagman also gives us beautifully drawn characters (four or five of them, but especially the protagonist and antagonist) who are at all times authentic. Individually, they rationalize their imperfections and struggle to be better people and act with purpose. Together, they clash over very different goals and navigate each other like landmines. All of the characters showcased here are in their own way exotic and in need of special handling if you take the time to understand how.
I’ve spent longer reading more well-known fiction that doesn’t cross my mind again until I’m thinning out my bookshelf months later and remember I read it. This is not that book. I immediately selected another of Wagman’s books to read next, and I ordered it in hardcover.
January 5, 2014
Diana wagman is a fine storyteller and The Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets by Diana Wagman The Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets is no exception.
October 7, 2023
Fun read! Second time through.
May 21, 2013
My review from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography, which you can find here: http://bit.ly/12I2cNy
--
With The Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets, her fourth novel, Diana Wagman has written a funny, surprising and disturbing novel, the kind of book that grips you by the throat and doesn't release you until the last page is turned.
The plot is simple. Winnie, resident of a bleak Los Angeles with a sky that's "vacant as a starlet's smile," mother of Lacy, ex-wife of Jonathan (the host of "TV's most popular game show") and daughter of Daisy (a multiple Oscar-winning actress) is stopping to drop off her Puegot at the mechanic on her way to her tennis lesson. These days Winnie feels limp "like an old balloon caught on a fencepost," and her inner mantra is "wait, not yet." While she's waiting on the rental car shuttle, she's kidnapped by Oren, a disturbed young ex-carnival worker who is the keeper of Cookie, a gigantic iguana, and who is also her daughter Lacy's new internet boyfriend. Lacy has invented an elaborate fantasy life for Oren, in which her mother keeps attack dogs at her bedroom door, hires a chauffeur to follow her every move, forces her to wear ugly clothes, and abuses her in a hundred other little ways. Oren is a child of abuse himself, but Cookie the iguana has taught him how to care for who you love, and his aim in kidnapping Winnie is basically to sit her down, have a meaningful and heartfelt conversation about the proper way to treat her daughter, and set her on the right track so that they can all live happily ever after. Oren isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. His plan doesn't take into account that Winnie--being a divorced woman living alone in L.A.--might have taken self-defense classes. She has, and she's a fighter, and the moment Winnie becomes Oren's captive all hell breaks loose.
What I loved about this book is that it functions so well on so many levels. It's a heavily plotted thriller that moves at a rocket pace, it takes brief detours into the disturbing territory of "torture porn," it's a very funny satirical look at life in modern Los Angeles, a frightening and believable character study of a deranged individual, a portrait of divorce, and a statement about the human need for companionship and love. The book manages to feel both self-contained and expansive. It takes place over the course of a single morning and afternoon, but is told from a dozen or so points of view. Perhaps more than anything else, the book functions as a kind of deranged bedtime story warning young daughters about the dangers of anonymous internet communication.
What surprised me most about this book is the quality of the writing. In recent weeks I've stumbled onto a long string of mediocre books, the most recent of which was Sam Pink's Rontel which I reviewed here last week. In that review, I took Mr. Pink to task for his failure to bestow full humanity on his secondary characters. I bring it up here, because when I wrote about generosity in that review, I was talking about precisely what Ms. Wagman accomplishes in Exotic Animals. Ms. Wagman deals with a large cast of characters, and every one of them is fully drawn and compelling, even the ones who could easily have become two-dimensional cliches in the hands of a lesser writer (the kidnapper and the philandering ex-husband, to name two). In Ms. Wegman's world, character development is not code for dry or boring writing. Her details are often funny or dark, her characters aren't always likeable, and she never openly manipulates us.
I would place Exotic Animals in the bizarro fiction category, and compare it to recent efforts I've read from Fiona Maazel and Ryan Boudinot (and even the aforementioned Mr. Pink), but Ms. Wagman's book compares favorably to those authors' efforts for her insightful writing and discernible plot. The book is extremely dark, but for those who don't gravitate toward black and white depictions of good and evil, who don't mind a little blood, guts, animal cruelty and explicit sexuality, there are ample rewards to be found here.
I won't spoil any of the surprises, but I will say that the Cookie the iguana clawing menacingly at the kitchen door acts as a kind of gun placed on the mantle, and that it will be fired during the final act.
--
With The Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets, her fourth novel, Diana Wagman has written a funny, surprising and disturbing novel, the kind of book that grips you by the throat and doesn't release you until the last page is turned.
The plot is simple. Winnie, resident of a bleak Los Angeles with a sky that's "vacant as a starlet's smile," mother of Lacy, ex-wife of Jonathan (the host of "TV's most popular game show") and daughter of Daisy (a multiple Oscar-winning actress) is stopping to drop off her Puegot at the mechanic on her way to her tennis lesson. These days Winnie feels limp "like an old balloon caught on a fencepost," and her inner mantra is "wait, not yet." While she's waiting on the rental car shuttle, she's kidnapped by Oren, a disturbed young ex-carnival worker who is the keeper of Cookie, a gigantic iguana, and who is also her daughter Lacy's new internet boyfriend. Lacy has invented an elaborate fantasy life for Oren, in which her mother keeps attack dogs at her bedroom door, hires a chauffeur to follow her every move, forces her to wear ugly clothes, and abuses her in a hundred other little ways. Oren is a child of abuse himself, but Cookie the iguana has taught him how to care for who you love, and his aim in kidnapping Winnie is basically to sit her down, have a meaningful and heartfelt conversation about the proper way to treat her daughter, and set her on the right track so that they can all live happily ever after. Oren isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. His plan doesn't take into account that Winnie--being a divorced woman living alone in L.A.--might have taken self-defense classes. She has, and she's a fighter, and the moment Winnie becomes Oren's captive all hell breaks loose.
What I loved about this book is that it functions so well on so many levels. It's a heavily plotted thriller that moves at a rocket pace, it takes brief detours into the disturbing territory of "torture porn," it's a very funny satirical look at life in modern Los Angeles, a frightening and believable character study of a deranged individual, a portrait of divorce, and a statement about the human need for companionship and love. The book manages to feel both self-contained and expansive. It takes place over the course of a single morning and afternoon, but is told from a dozen or so points of view. Perhaps more than anything else, the book functions as a kind of deranged bedtime story warning young daughters about the dangers of anonymous internet communication.
What surprised me most about this book is the quality of the writing. In recent weeks I've stumbled onto a long string of mediocre books, the most recent of which was Sam Pink's Rontel which I reviewed here last week. In that review, I took Mr. Pink to task for his failure to bestow full humanity on his secondary characters. I bring it up here, because when I wrote about generosity in that review, I was talking about precisely what Ms. Wagman accomplishes in Exotic Animals. Ms. Wagman deals with a large cast of characters, and every one of them is fully drawn and compelling, even the ones who could easily have become two-dimensional cliches in the hands of a lesser writer (the kidnapper and the philandering ex-husband, to name two). In Ms. Wegman's world, character development is not code for dry or boring writing. Her details are often funny or dark, her characters aren't always likeable, and she never openly manipulates us.
I would place Exotic Animals in the bizarro fiction category, and compare it to recent efforts I've read from Fiona Maazel and Ryan Boudinot (and even the aforementioned Mr. Pink), but Ms. Wagman's book compares favorably to those authors' efforts for her insightful writing and discernible plot. The book is extremely dark, but for those who don't gravitate toward black and white depictions of good and evil, who don't mind a little blood, guts, animal cruelty and explicit sexuality, there are ample rewards to be found here.
I won't spoil any of the surprises, but I will say that the Cookie the iguana clawing menacingly at the kitchen door acts as a kind of gun placed on the mantle, and that it will be fired during the final act.
January 11, 2013
After reading the LA Times review, I had to read it. I loved Wagman's clear and detailed prose in her emotionally compelling Bump, and waited eagerly for her next. Alas, I finished it in two days! Isn't it ironic that a writer will slave over every word, through many drafts, and if successful, the story will be devoured quickly?
Confession: I am not a reptile lover. And clearly, Wagman knows her lizards. Did she choose the cold blooded BFF of the kidnapper because it was hard for most to love? To show how much we all need love? Reviews that find this plot simplistic are only looking scale-deep.
Wagman's portrayal of the angst ridden relationship between a mother with no public identity beyond and her teenage daughter (who resembles both her famous mother and famous ex-husband)is spot-on. Yet Wagman is generous with all of her characters, however flawed, so that we understand their POV without judgment. A real feat!
And due to Wagman's sleight of hand reeling in these characters via alternating chapters even as the Lizard attacks, Winnie (and the reader) learn more about her troubled kidnapper and more about why she was chosen. It becomes apparent, even to her, that her role was more deep and more meaningful than any of the famous people around her.
I wanted to read the ending in slow motion. Instead I read it over and let it linger, appreciating it more as it stayed on my mind.
Confession: I am not a reptile lover. And clearly, Wagman knows her lizards. Did she choose the cold blooded BFF of the kidnapper because it was hard for most to love? To show how much we all need love? Reviews that find this plot simplistic are only looking scale-deep.
Wagman's portrayal of the angst ridden relationship between a mother with no public identity beyond and her teenage daughter (who resembles both her famous mother and famous ex-husband)is spot-on. Yet Wagman is generous with all of her characters, however flawed, so that we understand their POV without judgment. A real feat!
And due to Wagman's sleight of hand reeling in these characters via alternating chapters even as the Lizard attacks, Winnie (and the reader) learn more about her troubled kidnapper and more about why she was chosen. It becomes apparent, even to her, that her role was more deep and more meaningful than any of the famous people around her.
I wanted to read the ending in slow motion. Instead I read it over and let it linger, appreciating it more as it stayed on my mind.
October 1, 2014
This whole story seems so exaggerated that it is beyond unbelievable. How could Winnie still have strength left to fight after being beaten up as much as she was? It all happens over too short of a period of time to be believable.
Also, what is it with portraying yoga teachers as husband-stealing vixens? I see that as a recurring side plot in so many contemporary modes of popular culture...
Also, what is it with portraying yoga teachers as husband-stealing vixens? I see that as a recurring side plot in so many contemporary modes of popular culture...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2012
Very fast read, I couldn't put it down until I reached the end. Amazing characters, I was heartbroken when it was over.
February 16, 2014
So, this is a really strange book. I didn't hate it but I just couldn't figure out what the point was the whole time I was reading it. And I still haven't figured it out.
April 30, 2019
Pleasantly surprised with this one. I only picked it up for a reading challenge but I find myself thinking of the story a lot more than I expected to.
I absolutely LOVE the range of characters and the differences between them. The character development was on point. Each chapter is from a different point of view and I found myself excited for them all! Typically I have a favorite POV that I wish the author would focus on but I thoroughly enjoyed all of the characters and the different perspectives they brought to the story.
Parts of it were definitely predictable but it didnt diminish the story in the slightest. I found myself flying through the pages (I actually finished it in 2 days, this is a delayed review).
The end made me cry. This book did a great job of putting you in the shoes of the antagonist or "villian". His actions are wrong and abhorrent but when you really delve directly into his brain to see why he is the way he is, you find yourself filled with more empathy than hate or dislike.
I wouldnt say this book was the greatest but it really addressed a few key issues and did so in a topical and modern way (and honestly plausible too). I loved the mention of different reptiles too, I'm a big reptile fan 🦎
I absolutely LOVE the range of characters and the differences between them. The character development was on point. Each chapter is from a different point of view and I found myself excited for them all! Typically I have a favorite POV that I wish the author would focus on but I thoroughly enjoyed all of the characters and the different perspectives they brought to the story.
Parts of it were definitely predictable but it didnt diminish the story in the slightest. I found myself flying through the pages (I actually finished it in 2 days, this is a delayed review).
The end made me cry. This book did a great job of putting you in the shoes of the antagonist or "villian". His actions are wrong and abhorrent but when you really delve directly into his brain to see why he is the way he is, you find yourself filled with more empathy than hate or dislike.
I wouldnt say this book was the greatest but it really addressed a few key issues and did so in a topical and modern way (and honestly plausible too). I loved the mention of different reptiles too, I'm a big reptile fan 🦎
December 1, 2016
This is one freaky book! The whole storyline is both topical and insane! It is both terrifying and funny, and that's hard to do. A divorced, "stuck in the mud" mom is kidnapped. She does not know why she has been chosen, she is neither wealthy, nor famous although her ex-husband and mother are both. She has to use her wits to survive, and it's even more complicated because her kidnapper is unstable and his moods and motives keep changing, so she has to stay on her toes to keep up- and keep herself alive. While this is happening the novel shifts back to her story with her ex, her mother and her daughter. There are chapters where we hear from others in her life, what they are doing while she is fighting for her life - they are unaware of what has happened...
In the midst of all of this we have a 7+ foot iguana, scenes from the illegal reptile smuggling trade, and some background on our kidnapper and his past - and somehow this all works!!
The reason for the kidnapping is not hard to figure out - and yet it is both ridiculous and highly plausible - and therein lies the terror!
In the midst of all of this we have a 7+ foot iguana, scenes from the illegal reptile smuggling trade, and some background on our kidnapper and his past - and somehow this all works!!
The reason for the kidnapping is not hard to figure out - and yet it is both ridiculous and highly plausible - and therein lies the terror!
January 29, 2020
Nothing special. I think the book tries to be more than it is, and what it is is incredibly mediocre. I think this book could have been so much more if it had been written better. Some of the story elements are honestly compelling but the whole carnival backstory is something that would have been interesting if the character wasn’t 25 and the book wasn’t published in 2012. Are we to honestly believe that someone who grew up in the 90s was really the victim of a horrible life as a carny?
The core elements of a kidnap set in a hot, humid, reptile enthusiast’s home because of a lying daughter seems like it’d make a good book (or a movie, I’d see that) but the story falls short in so many ways and makes me sad that this vision didn’t result in something better.
Also, I don’t know what other reviewers (and the back cover) are talking about this book being funny. I personally didn’t find a single thing in this book humorous. If I had to read the father say ‘or whatever that saying is’ one more time I was going to go crazy.
A few typos throughout as well.
The core elements of a kidnap set in a hot, humid, reptile enthusiast’s home because of a lying daughter seems like it’d make a good book (or a movie, I’d see that) but the story falls short in so many ways and makes me sad that this vision didn’t result in something better.
Also, I don’t know what other reviewers (and the back cover) are talking about this book being funny. I personally didn’t find a single thing in this book humorous. If I had to read the father say ‘or whatever that saying is’ one more time I was going to go crazy.
A few typos throughout as well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 28, 2018
Horrible. I picked this up on the sale shelf and I still feel swindled. There was nothing good about this. Not the plot, not the characters, not the writing. The only thing I can say is that the ending was awful, so at least it was consistent and it didn’t try to redeem anything at the end. I won’t even give this to my mom (we trade books) and I feel a little bad about putting it in the Little Library. I will probably wipe it of fingerprints first so no one can trace it back to me. I’m sorry, in advance, for anyone who reads this. You will never get those hours of your life back. Nor will I.
May 16, 2024
I met Ms. Wagman in person and purchased this book from her after she was interviewed at a book reading in Idyllwild, CA in 2013....it sat on my shelf since then, until today. None of the characters were worth the time and the bizarre story about a kidnapping gone awry - including being held hostage in a home with an exotic 7' iguana - highlights the absurdity of celebrity lifestyles gone awry.
June 17, 2019
I was surprisedd by how much I liked this, the psychologies had me gripped. This is a tough emotional read as the mistakes about how humans present themselves come cascading in in the space of a single day.
May 31, 2017
Different twist very interesting!
Book kept me reading way into the night! Characters very nicely developed. If you like reptiles this may be a fun little read.
Book kept me reading way into the night! Characters very nicely developed. If you like reptiles this may be a fun little read.
October 18, 2017
It was OK.
June 5, 2018
Amusing dime store read.
April 1, 2021
Cool writing style I’ll never look at an iguana the same way tho.
June 16, 2022
A quick little page turner
August 13, 2025
a knock off Carl hiaasen type book but less funny and less of a message
November 27, 2025
Nothing like what I’d expected. It is not a heart warming comedy about family.
But it’s hard to say what it is about. Devotion. First love in an online age. Love. Ex-love. Infatuation.
It held me after I stopped looking for the laughs and settled on the heartbreak.
But it’s hard to say what it is about. Devotion. First love in an online age. Love. Ex-love. Infatuation.
It held me after I stopped looking for the laughs and settled on the heartbreak.
August 11, 2013
This is the kind of book that never leaves you, not because it was wonderfully written or that it showed sparkles of creative genius, but simply because the plot was so wacky and unique that you probably will never read another book quite like it.
I enjoyed this one for what it was: a kidnapping story with complex characters and appropriate action.However, I did feel a jarring disconnect, which is why I am somewhat struggling in writing this review. This disconnect is probably grounded in the fact that I should have found this book to be a fast-paced and compelling read, but instead I felt like I was stuck in a reading traffic jam.
I think my biggest gripe with this one was that there was just too many points of views. While I love a shifting of narrative perspective, that is usually only if the characters are all necessary and intriguing. In this one we had the narrative view of the kidnapper, the kidnapped mother, the kidnapped mother's daughter, the kidnapped mother's ex-husband, the exotic pet dealer, and even a throwaway chapter from the perspective of a coworker of the kidnapper. I just need to be invested or intrigued by the character if I am going to spend twenty pages in their head, and there were simply times that jumping to another character and therefore another subplot just broke whatever momentum and excitement that I was just starting to feel.
Also, there was little surprise with this one. I feel quite jaded when I am able to see the big surprise or reveal coming from a mile away, and that is exactly what happened here. I am not a very intuitive reader, so when I can see it coming, something is wrong.
I will say that I did find the relationship between the kidnapper and the kidnapped to be very intriguing, and I wish there was a more concrete statement by book's end of what either felt toward the other. The kidnapper was very well-developed, and I could not help but find myself rooting for him. I think he was painted to be borderline insane (as I'd imagine any kidnapper would have to be), but at the same time I found myself sympathizing with his faulty logic.
I do think the last few chapters were pretty darn good, and for a moment the writing and the underlying themes were shining quite memorably.
If you want a literary version of Criminal Minds , then this might be for you. Maybe my expectations were too high, but for me, this was a very solid underwhelming three.
I enjoyed this one for what it was: a kidnapping story with complex characters and appropriate action.However, I did feel a jarring disconnect, which is why I am somewhat struggling in writing this review. This disconnect is probably grounded in the fact that I should have found this book to be a fast-paced and compelling read, but instead I felt like I was stuck in a reading traffic jam.
I think my biggest gripe with this one was that there was just too many points of views. While I love a shifting of narrative perspective, that is usually only if the characters are all necessary and intriguing. In this one we had the narrative view of the kidnapper, the kidnapped mother, the kidnapped mother's daughter, the kidnapped mother's ex-husband, the exotic pet dealer, and even a throwaway chapter from the perspective of a coworker of the kidnapper. I just need to be invested or intrigued by the character if I am going to spend twenty pages in their head, and there were simply times that jumping to another character and therefore another subplot just broke whatever momentum and excitement that I was just starting to feel.
Also, there was little surprise with this one. I feel quite jaded when I am able to see the big surprise or reveal coming from a mile away, and that is exactly what happened here. I am not a very intuitive reader, so when I can see it coming, something is wrong.
I will say that I did find the relationship between the kidnapper and the kidnapped to be very intriguing, and I wish there was a more concrete statement by book's end of what either felt toward the other. The kidnapper was very well-developed, and I could not help but find myself rooting for him. I think he was painted to be borderline insane (as I'd imagine any kidnapper would have to be), but at the same time I found myself sympathizing with his faulty logic.
I do think the last few chapters were pretty darn good, and for a moment the writing and the underlying themes were shining quite memorably.
If you want a literary version of Criminal Minds , then this might be for you. Maybe my expectations were too high, but for me, this was a very solid underwhelming three.
December 31, 2012
Winnie Parker is an ordinary woman - mother to an angst-ridden, teenage daughter, ex-wife of the host of a popular game show, and daughter to a famous actress. With no fame to her own name (and no desire to gain any), Winnie lives a fairly mundane life. Between worrying about how many piercing her daughter has and wishing that he husband hadn't left her for a newer model, Winnie drops her car off at the mechanics and goes to her tennis practices. However, her normal schedule goes astray when she gets into a stranger's car, mistaken for the rental car she had ordered. She realizes too late that this stranger has a plan for her when he takes her to his home. Here, she must fight for her life while trying to figure out who this person is and what they have planned for her.
---
I'm a sucker for mystery and suspense, always looking for an author who can pull it off just right. After reading the synopsis, I was more than happy to give the book a shot. However, the book started off dull and consistently centered around superficial problems. Written in third-person, and shifting character perspectives each chapter, I found it hard to actually connect or sympathize with any of the characters. While there is an initial sympathy for Winnie, I find myself consistently disappointed because of her repetitive actions and shallow thoughts.
Not only did this transitioning point of view prevent a connection with the characters, but I found it to be unnecessary at points. While shifting to Winnie's daughter's situation could be reasoned, I found the shifts to Jonathan's (Winnie's ex-husband) perspective distracting and after the conclusion of the novel - ultimately useless and time consuming.
While the premise of this story is good, the writing is dull and hard to get through. At the end of the book, I was left disappointed and unsatisfied. The ending was predictable, and the most exciting part of the book was the iguana attack. An okay read if you're bored - but I would suggest a trip to the library instead.
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I'm a sucker for mystery and suspense, always looking for an author who can pull it off just right. After reading the synopsis, I was more than happy to give the book a shot. However, the book started off dull and consistently centered around superficial problems. Written in third-person, and shifting character perspectives each chapter, I found it hard to actually connect or sympathize with any of the characters. While there is an initial sympathy for Winnie, I find myself consistently disappointed because of her repetitive actions and shallow thoughts.
Not only did this transitioning point of view prevent a connection with the characters, but I found it to be unnecessary at points. While shifting to Winnie's daughter's situation could be reasoned, I found the shifts to Jonathan's (Winnie's ex-husband) perspective distracting and after the conclusion of the novel - ultimately useless and time consuming.
While the premise of this story is good, the writing is dull and hard to get through. At the end of the book, I was left disappointed and unsatisfied. The ending was predictable, and the most exciting part of the book was the iguana attack. An okay read if you're bored - but I would suggest a trip to the library instead.
June 19, 2015
Ein geborener Tierpfleger
Nach ihrer Scheidung lebt Winnie mit ihrer 16jährigen Tochter Lacey weiter in ihrem Haus. Von der Trennung hat sich Winnie nie richtig erholt, so lebt sie vor sich hin und bemerkt nicht wie unzufrieden Lacey eigentlich ist. Eines Tages wird Winnie auf dem Weg in den Tennisclub entführt. Der Entführer versteckt sich nicht, es handelt sich um einen jungen Mann, der mit einem riesigen Leguan zusammenlebt. Winnie versteht nicht, wie es dazu kommen konnte, wieso hat er sie geschnappt, sie ist nicht reich, sie sieht normal aus. Die Reichen in der Familie sind ihr Ex-Mann und ihre Mutter, die Schönen ihre Mutter und ihre Tochter, die Berühmten ihre Mutter und ihr Ex. Wieso also Winnie.
Titel und Beschreibung versprechen entweder eine witzige, geheimnisvolle, vielleicht auch anrührende Geschichte oder einen rasanten Thriller von einer „Award-winning“ Autorin. Was man bekommt, ist schwer zu beschreiben. Mal wieder etwas, wo man an seinen Englischkenntnissen zweifelt. Bekommt man etwas nicht mit, versteht man die Nachricht nicht? Der Witz erschließt sich nicht, sympathisch ist niemand. Winnie keine Heldin, eher eine, die sich unnütz in Gefahr begibt, besonders nachdem der Entführer das erste Mal ausgerastet ist. Ihre Tochter ein verzogenes Blag. Ihr Mann ein gegen die Midlife-Crisis kämpfender etwas abgehalfterter Showman. Und der Leguan kann einfach nicht anders, er ist halt ein Leguan. Sicher gibt es viele Leser, denen genau dieses Konzept sehr gefällt, doch sicher gibt es auch andere, die im Laufe der Lektüre ins Kämpfen geraten um jede einzelne Seite, denen die Figuren mit jeder Wendung weniger sympathisch werden, der Verlauf der Handlung immer unverständlicher, die schließlich den Schluss mit Erleichterung genießen, weil sich doch irgendwie alles fügt und das Buch endlich beendet ist.
Nach ihrer Scheidung lebt Winnie mit ihrer 16jährigen Tochter Lacey weiter in ihrem Haus. Von der Trennung hat sich Winnie nie richtig erholt, so lebt sie vor sich hin und bemerkt nicht wie unzufrieden Lacey eigentlich ist. Eines Tages wird Winnie auf dem Weg in den Tennisclub entführt. Der Entführer versteckt sich nicht, es handelt sich um einen jungen Mann, der mit einem riesigen Leguan zusammenlebt. Winnie versteht nicht, wie es dazu kommen konnte, wieso hat er sie geschnappt, sie ist nicht reich, sie sieht normal aus. Die Reichen in der Familie sind ihr Ex-Mann und ihre Mutter, die Schönen ihre Mutter und ihre Tochter, die Berühmten ihre Mutter und ihr Ex. Wieso also Winnie.
Titel und Beschreibung versprechen entweder eine witzige, geheimnisvolle, vielleicht auch anrührende Geschichte oder einen rasanten Thriller von einer „Award-winning“ Autorin. Was man bekommt, ist schwer zu beschreiben. Mal wieder etwas, wo man an seinen Englischkenntnissen zweifelt. Bekommt man etwas nicht mit, versteht man die Nachricht nicht? Der Witz erschließt sich nicht, sympathisch ist niemand. Winnie keine Heldin, eher eine, die sich unnütz in Gefahr begibt, besonders nachdem der Entführer das erste Mal ausgerastet ist. Ihre Tochter ein verzogenes Blag. Ihr Mann ein gegen die Midlife-Crisis kämpfender etwas abgehalfterter Showman. Und der Leguan kann einfach nicht anders, er ist halt ein Leguan. Sicher gibt es viele Leser, denen genau dieses Konzept sehr gefällt, doch sicher gibt es auch andere, die im Laufe der Lektüre ins Kämpfen geraten um jede einzelne Seite, denen die Figuren mit jeder Wendung weniger sympathisch werden, der Verlauf der Handlung immer unverständlicher, die schließlich den Schluss mit Erleichterung genießen, weil sich doch irgendwie alles fügt und das Buch endlich beendet ist.
August 4, 2016
I am breathless from this book. It is not long, and it isn't complicated, but its simplicity is perfectly suited to its purpose. This is the story of some ordinary not very nice people who don't tell the truth to each other, and then terrible things happen.
It's stream of consciousness, sort of, from a lot of perspectives, without judgment or much self-examination. That very style makes The Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets absurdist, farcical at the same time it's horrifying. And it is horrifying, incredibly so. All of the characters are hateful in their own ways, some more so than others, but none particularly nice. They live largely unexamined lives - Oren's refrain of "Why me?" might be applied to any of them.
If you're deeply invested in character development, go elsewhere. This is a story of static people, with the exceptions of Winnie and Oren, who learn, maybe, and are broken, definitely.
If you're into breathtaking drama and the patent ridiculousness of people who don't realize they're ridiculous - and iguanas - read this.
It's stream of consciousness, sort of, from a lot of perspectives, without judgment or much self-examination. That very style makes The Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets absurdist, farcical at the same time it's horrifying. And it is horrifying, incredibly so. All of the characters are hateful in their own ways, some more so than others, but none particularly nice. They live largely unexamined lives - Oren's refrain of "Why me?" might be applied to any of them.
If you're deeply invested in character development, go elsewhere. This is a story of static people, with the exceptions of Winnie and Oren, who learn, maybe, and are broken, definitely.
If you're into breathtaking drama and the patent ridiculousness of people who don't realize they're ridiculous - and iguanas - read this.
January 25, 2017
Winnie Parker is a very lonely divorced mother. On her way to her tennis lessons she drops her car off at a dealership and takes a bus to the rental shop. She soon realizes that she is in the wrong car and has been kidnapped by a young man. They pull into his garage and go into his piping hot house. Winnin meets Cookie, her captors pet Iguana. Soon unfolds the real story of each character (Winnie's ex husband, her daughter, her captor and his pet).
This story was OK. I finished it very quickly, but not because I couldn't put it down and wanted to know what happend, but because the story was almost young adult. It was almost good. I'm not sure I woudl recommend it. I can't quite put my finger on why I did not really like this book. I was disappointed in the anti-climactic ending and the characters were very underdeveloped. I didn't end up liking any of the characters.
This story was OK. I finished it very quickly, but not because I couldn't put it down and wanted to know what happend, but because the story was almost young adult. It was almost good. I'm not sure I woudl recommend it. I can't quite put my finger on why I did not really like this book. I was disappointed in the anti-climactic ending and the characters were very underdeveloped. I didn't end up liking any of the characters.
January 26, 2013
Winnie Parker waits for Enterprise to pick her up at the repair shop. She gets in a car she believes is from Enterprise and realizes she’s being kidnapped. Oren, her kidnapper, is her teenage daughter’s online boyfriend. Oren mistakenly believes Winnie abuses her daughter, Lacy. Oren is strange, but doesn’t have evil intentions. He’s just a loser with a giant pet iguana who took his online girlfriend too seriously. Everything spirals out of control for Oren and each escape attempt ends violently for Winnie. Oren believes he’s doing his best to care for Winnie and fails to understand why his decisions end horribly. http://catoverlord.blogspot.com/2013/...
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