Find Courtney

by Melissa Clark

Written in a tone of suppressed eroticism and infused with surprising revelations of false identities, Find Courtney is a psychological thriller that keeps the reader guessing up to its startling climax.

240 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2004

About the author

Melissa Clark is an American food writer and cookbook author. Since 2007, she has been a food columnist for The New York Times. She has written more than 40 cookbooks and in 2018 won a James Beard Award.

Reviews

[Shelby · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t even know where to begin with this one, but here we go. I sincerely hope that Clark seeks out therapy because she obviously needs it based on this book. She obviously hates men and conventionally attractive women, while simultaneously suggesting that “unattractive” women are murderous trash. She also obviously never moved past the middle school ‘I’m not like other girls’ phase. Her writing is also subtlety racist while trying to appear progressive - calling your one character of color mannish and fixating on her facial hair is racist. Calling non-white people “ethnics” is racist. On top of that, why the hell does she constantly refer to people as “above gender”? It’s weird and doesn’t come off as intellectual like she obviously wants it too.
This book may also have the absolute worst euphemisms for sex and genitalia. (*cough cough* hermit crab *cough cough* peeled me like a grape).
Clark may have won awards for her poetry, plays, and short stories, but the only award she’s winning here is “The Worst Book I Have Ever Read”.

[Doreen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I chose to read this book because it is written by a Connecticut author. I happened upon it while selecting books for January's 'Connecticut Authors' display at the library. I want to rate this a '3', but the inconsistency in the writing forces me to rate it a '2'.
This book is different from most books that I've read. It includes mild eroticism set against a search for a missing college student. In this search, the missing student's Dad and roommate team up. Their quest is initially quite fragmented and makes little sense. As the story progresses, a relationship between Dad and roommate develops. It's odd, but the story does become quite intriguing.
I believe this book could have been extraordinary if it had more focus, especially in the beginning pages. For the first half of the book, I was less than impressed with the storyline. For the second half of the book, the story quickly gained momentum, which I appreciated as a reader. At this point I began to view a rating of '3' or '4', possibly! I could envision books being written that follow the main character's life over the next twenty years! That would be amazing! For that to happen though, I think the author needs to find truthful readers who can provide constructive guidance and revisions to drafts, before going to print. And yes, I would read more from this author.

[Marialanni · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not much of psychological thriller.... didn't like any of the characters... could have been much better if the author had put more depth into the characters

[Wayland Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm actually having trouble reviewing this book. The writing is good, no question there. But the main character is really hard to like. I certainly didn't, anyway. The first quarter of the book almost felt like a skilled writer took a challenge to write the most boring character she could.

Fanoy, who hates her first name and won't use it (we don't find out what it is until damn near the end of the book) is drifting through life. Courtesy of a vague "insurance settlement" she's been in college for six years, changing majors often. She ends up rooming with a rich young woman and seems content enough with that.

Until said roommate, the titular Courtney, disappears. Then things get really, really weird. Very few people seem to care she's gone. And then her father shows up, and he's a very strange person. Things get weirder from there. There are murders revealed, hidden identities, dark pasts, a fan dancer from long ago, and an unmarked grave. Twists and turns abound in a pretty good plot.

I just am having trouble with this really difficult main character. If this makes any sense, it's worth studying, but I'm not wholly sure I recommend reading it.

skilled writer with good ideas just some weird choices for the POV character.

[Maxie Froelicher · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was, hands down, the worst book I’ve ever read. Not only were the characters downright hateable, the twist wasn’t shocking enough to forgive the rest of the book. It was also downright disgusting, and none of the motivations of the narrator made sense. It calls itself an “erotic psychological thriller” yet it’s not anywhere close to any of those genres. It’s just bad, with poorly written sex (“He unpeeled me like a grape.”), not enough momentum in the first half, and it left me with no feeling other than rage and disgust. Do not read this book if you expect anything worth your time.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fanoy is a self-absorbed, mid-twenties college student going to school in Miami. She gets to move in with Courtney Armorault, a beautiful and wealthy fellow student with her own beachfront apartment. The two aren’t friends; they lead totally separate lives. They just happen to live in the same apartment. One day, Courtney goes for her morning jog, and doesn’t return.

Fanoy doesn’t do anything, figuring that Courtney will be right back, or will call to say that she ran off with one of her many male admirers. To be honest, Fanoy is also enjoying the peace and quiet with Courtney not around. After two weeks, Bret Armorault, Courtney’s father, shows up. He is more the Inconvenienced Father than the Distraught Father. He is a free-spirit type who gives the impression that he made his money in the drug business. The two speak to the school administration, and to Courtney’s friends and classmates, looking for clues.

Bret convinces Fanoy to move in with him, to an inland Italian villa that was to be part of a housing complex that never happened. It belonged to a famous fan dancer named Crystal Lalique, and is now like living in a museum. After getting the impression that Bret is keeping her there for some reason, Fanoy flees back to Miami. Bret finds her, and convinces her to return with him (with her car, this time).

Bret admits to Fanoy that his name really isn’t Bret Armorault. He admits that he kidnapped Courtney when she was little, and has raised her like his own daughter, things that she never knew. Sex between them had been going on for quite a while. "Bret" has known where Courtney is the entire time. Fanoy also has a secret or two of her own.

This is a really good psychological thriller. It’s a fast read, the characters are well done, and it’s an interesting story of people not being what they seem. This is well worth reading.

[Jennifer Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It seems I say that a lot, but if it's going nowhere, I don't finish it. This one carried me along quickly - a good little mystery with the unexpected twist that I should have seen coming all along. Not too long - not much of an investment - and well worth the time.