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Поклонница
Популярный русский певец и актер Тимур Озин не знал, что раздавая розы незнакомым женщинам в день Восьмого Марта,он приобретет себе саму большую поклонницу. Если бы знал, то возможно бы передумал.
Таис не обычная женщина. Ей тридцать восемь лет, но ее развитие остановилось в гораздо раннем возрасте. Ее семья погибла в автомобильной катастрофе, но она нашла себе другую. Она собирает вещи с мусорок и работает уборщицей в жилом доме. И она сделает все ... абсолютно все, для мужчины, который сказал, что она красива. Для Тимура Озина.
Таис не обычная женщина. Ей тридцать восемь лет, но ее развитие остановилось в гораздо раннем возрасте. Ее семья погибла в автомобильной катастрофе, но она нашла себе другую. Она собирает вещи с мусорок и работает уборщицей в жилом доме. И она сделает все ... абсолютно все, для мужчины, который сказал, что она красива. Для Тимура Озина.
- GenresPsychological Thriller
362 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 4, 2013
34 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Natasha A. Salnikova
24 books62 followersWriting was Natasha A. Salnikova's passion since she was fourteen. She worked as a writer and a host on various TV shows and published two books in Russia. Her early obsession with psychology naturally lead her to write psychological thrillers. Natasha enjoys researching different psychological disorders for her books. She's also an author of supernatural thrillers and science fiction novels. She's a huge pet lover, yoga practitioner, vegetarian, and immature photographer. She currently lives in sunny Florida with her family.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 28, 2013
This turned out to be a very, very compelling read. I really had a hard time putting it down. I knew before beginning the book that the author is Russian and that is her first language, consequently I was not surprised by some unusual uses of language but given the bizarre main character, Thais, it did not seem out of place.
Thais is a thirty-something woman who works as a cleaning woman in a Moscow apartment building. Years ago she was in a car wreck with her parents and brother--she was the only survivor. Thais is obviously mentally disturbed but she is not stupid. As a teenager she was bullied and she is hyper-aware of people's attitudes and can sense when she is being humored, placated, or condescended to. She spends her time dumpster-diving and collecting strange things which fill her apartment. Her neighbors do their best to avoid her.
One day a popular Russian actor and singer, Timur Ozin, in a celebratory mood, is handing out roses to women and he gives one to Thais and tells her she is beautiful. Thus begins her obsession with him--an obsession that leads to death and destruction.
The story is written mostly from Thais's point of view and her point of view is crazy but also logical in a very strange way. I thought the progression of events was very well done and, while there were a couple of minor points that were a little bit of a stretch, it was an exciting, tense story.
My only complaint, and it is a minor one, is that since the story is set in Moscow, a city with which the author is familiar, I would have liked more of a sense of the city. All the scenes and descriptions of place were very modern but very generic--it could as easily have been set in an American city. But, never the less, this is a tight, tense, well-constructed story. Well done.
Thais is a thirty-something woman who works as a cleaning woman in a Moscow apartment building. Years ago she was in a car wreck with her parents and brother--she was the only survivor. Thais is obviously mentally disturbed but she is not stupid. As a teenager she was bullied and she is hyper-aware of people's attitudes and can sense when she is being humored, placated, or condescended to. She spends her time dumpster-diving and collecting strange things which fill her apartment. Her neighbors do their best to avoid her.
One day a popular Russian actor and singer, Timur Ozin, in a celebratory mood, is handing out roses to women and he gives one to Thais and tells her she is beautiful. Thus begins her obsession with him--an obsession that leads to death and destruction.
The story is written mostly from Thais's point of view and her point of view is crazy but also logical in a very strange way. I thought the progression of events was very well done and, while there were a couple of minor points that were a little bit of a stretch, it was an exciting, tense story.
My only complaint, and it is a minor one, is that since the story is set in Moscow, a city with which the author is familiar, I would have liked more of a sense of the city. All the scenes and descriptions of place were very modern but very generic--it could as easily have been set in an American city. But, never the less, this is a tight, tense, well-constructed story. Well done.
August 21, 2013
Wow. What a book! When it's described as a psychological thriller, they aren't kidding. This book captured me from the beginning. The introduction to the main character and her mental illness are well done. She's a complicated individual with several likely mental diagnoses and yet it's amazing that people like this survive in the world. I know it all too personally and readily recognized the behaviors in Thais.
The story covers mental illness, obsession, denial, and believe it or not love. We see love portrayed in several ways in different characters. Parenthood and how children are treated isn't abusive in any way but definitely disturbing when it comes to Thais. This story shows what happens when a person already living on the edge of sanity has a new break due to circumstances that she created and how far one will go to survive.
I couldn't put this book down and was irritated when I got interrupted because I couldn't wait to turn the virtual page. I highly recommend it.
Oh, and because it's set in Russia it has an undertone of foreign culture which carries the story along.
Looking forward to reading more of Ms. Salnikova's work.
The story covers mental illness, obsession, denial, and believe it or not love. We see love portrayed in several ways in different characters. Parenthood and how children are treated isn't abusive in any way but definitely disturbing when it comes to Thais. This story shows what happens when a person already living on the edge of sanity has a new break due to circumstances that she created and how far one will go to survive.
I couldn't put this book down and was irritated when I got interrupted because I couldn't wait to turn the virtual page. I highly recommend it.
Oh, and because it's set in Russia it has an undertone of foreign culture which carries the story along.
Looking forward to reading more of Ms. Salnikova's work.
November 18, 2013
I struggled to finish this. Thais is a mentally ill woman who somehow lives on her own. She has a bad crush on a famous actor/ singer with disastrous consequences.
It's slow. Very slow. I ended up skipping bits, especially Thais endless dialogues.
I appreciate the author's foot note about the translation, and the prose didn't bother me.
But what I really didn't like was the way the author portraits mental illness.
Mental illness is a serious issue, and no softness was given to this, no sympathy, no real understanding.
Hence the whole book flaws in my opinion.
It's slow. Very slow. I ended up skipping bits, especially Thais endless dialogues.
I appreciate the author's foot note about the translation, and the prose didn't bother me.
But what I really didn't like was the way the author portraits mental illness.
Mental illness is a serious issue, and no softness was given to this, no sympathy, no real understanding.
Hence the whole book flaws in my opinion.
August 20, 2016
“Love, Thais” by Natasha A. Salnikova will enthral those who love psychological thrillers. It’s a gripper, one of those “hard to put down” books, especially once it starts racing toward its mind blowing ending.
“Love, Thais” starts gently. We observe a pregnant mother, father and their first precocious daughter enjoying dinner in one of Moscow’s finer restaurants. The youngster, Erica, notices a strange looking, very scruffy woman with her face pressed against the restaurant window staring at them, or rather, at her father, Tim Ozin. Tim is the current hottie of the entertainment industry, adored by women everywhere, especially by the unkempt Thais.
But Thais is anything but a normal love-struck fan. She’s a mentally unbalanced hoarder who lives in a filthy apartment looking after her parents and brother, all of whom were killed in a car accident. Read that last sentence again, carefully. She is also convinced, since once being handed a rose by Tim in a celebrity promotion event, that he is in love with her. As Thais sets out to prove to Tim just how much she loves him and how much they belong together, she sets in motion a sinister series of events that bring chaos and death, not only into the lives of Tim and his little family, but into that of his film director, and the unfortunate tenants of an apartment above Thais’.
To tell you more of what happens in “Love, Thais” would be to spoil your enjoyment of this thriller. Suffice to say, despite the length of the book, you’ll be turning the pages of the short chapters quickly. Natasha A. Salnikova has actually done an amazing job of letting readers see the mess inside Thais’ head, matched by the mess in her living quarters and habits. One initially feels sorry for the lonely, deranged Thais who is desperate for love. But beneath her loneliness and longing lives an enraged child who lashes out viciously when life doesn’t go as she wants, destroying anything and anyone who gets in her way. Thais is fictional, but we all know that people like Thais walk our streets or even live in the next house or apartment. The thought of encountering a Thais is chilling indeed.
Natasha A. Salnikova is a prolific writer, the author of over a dozen books, Her specialty is dark, psychological and supernatural thrillers. Those who enjoy reading “Love, Thais” have plenty more to choose from. I must confess though to a curiosity about where the author’s fascination with macabre humanity stems from. Does Natasha have a secret story yet to share in a memoir instead of a novel? Just wondering…
Viga Boland
Voice from an Urn
No Tears for My Father: A true story of incest
Love Has No Gender: A short love story with a timeless message
The Ladies of Loretto
Learning to Love Myself: A memoir of healing after child sexual abuse
“Love, Thais” starts gently. We observe a pregnant mother, father and their first precocious daughter enjoying dinner in one of Moscow’s finer restaurants. The youngster, Erica, notices a strange looking, very scruffy woman with her face pressed against the restaurant window staring at them, or rather, at her father, Tim Ozin. Tim is the current hottie of the entertainment industry, adored by women everywhere, especially by the unkempt Thais.
But Thais is anything but a normal love-struck fan. She’s a mentally unbalanced hoarder who lives in a filthy apartment looking after her parents and brother, all of whom were killed in a car accident. Read that last sentence again, carefully. She is also convinced, since once being handed a rose by Tim in a celebrity promotion event, that he is in love with her. As Thais sets out to prove to Tim just how much she loves him and how much they belong together, she sets in motion a sinister series of events that bring chaos and death, not only into the lives of Tim and his little family, but into that of his film director, and the unfortunate tenants of an apartment above Thais’.
To tell you more of what happens in “Love, Thais” would be to spoil your enjoyment of this thriller. Suffice to say, despite the length of the book, you’ll be turning the pages of the short chapters quickly. Natasha A. Salnikova has actually done an amazing job of letting readers see the mess inside Thais’ head, matched by the mess in her living quarters and habits. One initially feels sorry for the lonely, deranged Thais who is desperate for love. But beneath her loneliness and longing lives an enraged child who lashes out viciously when life doesn’t go as she wants, destroying anything and anyone who gets in her way. Thais is fictional, but we all know that people like Thais walk our streets or even live in the next house or apartment. The thought of encountering a Thais is chilling indeed.
Natasha A. Salnikova is a prolific writer, the author of over a dozen books, Her specialty is dark, psychological and supernatural thrillers. Those who enjoy reading “Love, Thais” have plenty more to choose from. I must confess though to a curiosity about where the author’s fascination with macabre humanity stems from. Does Natasha have a secret story yet to share in a memoir instead of a novel? Just wondering…
Viga Boland
Voice from an Urn
No Tears for My Father: A true story of incest
Love Has No Gender: A short love story with a timeless message
The Ladies of Loretto
Learning to Love Myself: A memoir of healing after child sexual abuse
July 7, 2017
Audible:Oh my gosh!This book made me want to stop reading pretty early on.I worked with Mentally Challenged individuals who were SO like Thais,that it was scary.Thais is a mentally challenged woman with the interests of a pre teen.Her favorite personality gets letters from her and she lives in a world where he returns her feelings.He is married with a child.This does not deter her.She sets out to win him by getting rid of his distractions.Thais was left alone when her family was killed.She is in her own apartment with no supervision as far as eating, living or hygiene.It is set in Russia,but so similar to the situations I've seen in the USA.I was taken aback at Kauleen Cloutiers narration.I think now that it reminded me too much of a certain client.A book that should be read.I was provided this book by the author, narrator or publisher.
October 7, 2013
Thais is one of those women that you hope never to meet but love to hear about. Natasha Salnikova has created a figure that is whole, one that you know so well by the end of the book, you know what she’s capable of. Still Salnikova managed to throw in a few hard twists. I read this with complete fascination. Thais is fully realized in this book and the psychological thrill of it is addictive. Like watching a train wreck.
February 2, 2017
This author has a very strange mind. She should get together with Stephen King! I want to put the book down but then I wanted to see what would happen next.
I listened to this and enjoyed the narrator except when she tried to do Russian accents.
I listened to this and enjoyed the narrator except when she tried to do Russian accents.
August 2, 2016
Is it over?
I want more.
This is the kind of Store you just can't put down until you finish. Now i have the feeling that something is missing maybe a better detailed finale.
I want more.
This is the kind of Store you just can't put down until you finish. Now i have the feeling that something is missing maybe a better detailed finale.
November 13, 2016
Loved this book!! So engrossing!! I love all of her books so far can't wait to read another one!!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews