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Take Me, Take Me With You
Lauren Kelly, with amazing power and authority, explores the secret kinship of "soul mates," in a mysterious and demonic love story.
Lara Quade, a disaffected intellectual associated with a prominent Princeton research center, is a young woman whose physical beauty has been scarred in a childhood accident. She is jarred out of the routine of her life by a seemingly chance meeting with a young man named Zedrick Dewe, whom she seems to know somehow as he in turn seems to know her. What is the connection between them? Who has brought them together? And why are they drawn so powerfully to one another? Their encounter leads to a highly charged erotic experience that takes an abrupt turn from tender to violent, predictable to terrifying. And from this initial episode springs a sequence of inexplicable events and revelations so shocking that they lead Lara, long in denial about her life, to uncover the truth about the buried hurt and rage in the tortured past of her family.
Lara Quade, a disaffected intellectual associated with a prominent Princeton research center, is a young woman whose physical beauty has been scarred in a childhood accident. She is jarred out of the routine of her life by a seemingly chance meeting with a young man named Zedrick Dewe, whom she seems to know somehow as he in turn seems to know her. What is the connection between them? Who has brought them together? And why are they drawn so powerfully to one another? Their encounter leads to a highly charged erotic experience that takes an abrupt turn from tender to violent, predictable to terrifying. And from this initial episode springs a sequence of inexplicable events and revelations so shocking that they lead Lara, long in denial about her life, to uncover the truth about the buried hurt and rage in the tortured past of her family.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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126 people want to read
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Lauren Kelly
9 books17 followersThere is more than one author with this name in the GR database. This is Lauren^Kelly, one of the pseudonyms used by Joyce Carol Oates.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
October 4, 2013
I'll preface this by saying that I picked this book up at a used book sale held by a church in my hometown. On the last day of the sale, they have a ridiculous deal where you pay $3.00 for all the books you can stuff into a bag. (Coincidentally, I paid $15 for 48 books - 27 of them hardbacks in near new condition - mind-blowing stuff here). Because the books are so cheap, I get a bit grabby and end up choosing books I wouldn't normally purchase at full price. This is one of those books.
It's written by Lauren Kelly who - I didn't notice until I got home - is a pseudonym of Joyce Carol Oates. I'm not a huge fan, but I'm not prejudiced against her brand of contemporary fiction. In fact, I rather liked a sick little book I read awhile back called Zombie and Blonde has been in my "own-but-have-yet-to-read" pile for years. It was advertised on the front cover as "a novel of suspense," so I was eager to give it a quick read and see what it was all about. I finished it in just over a few hours, staying up late into the night to read it (really, not such an endorsement considering I'm nine months pregnant and not sleeping much to begin with).
The tale bounces back and forth between the early 1970s and a span of a few months in 1993, following a doll-faced awkward intellectual Lorraine (now known as Lara) Quade. A particularly harrowing childhood has left Lorraine/Lara scarred - both emotionally and physically - and this book chronicles her struggles to understand the past in order to live more fully in the future. When Lorraine receives an anonymous envelope with a ticket to an event on campus, she is put into contact with another party, Zederick Dewe, who is the recipient of the same strange gift. On the surface, the two have little in common; however, a strange, erotic charge binds them together which sets their strange, tragic relationship spiraling out of control.
At the beginning of the novel, I was entranced by Oates' lyrical language and mesmerizing back-and-forth between the harrowing past and the mysterious present. I was really into the story, but around the 50 page mark, I was hit by the "oh, crap, I know exactly where this is going" sense of accomplishment/defeat. And, indeed, I had figured out the mystery connection - which left the so-called "novel of suspense" feeling not so suspenseful. Sometimes, this doesn't necessarily taint the rest of the read. Unfortunately, this time, the wind was sucked entirely out of my proverbial sails, and I spent the rest of the book cursing my close-reading skills.
Likewise, my infatuation with Lorraine and Zederick waned as the book progressed. Don't get me wrong - I love a dangerous, slightly dirty, bad boy as much as the next girl. In my youth, I'd been known to get starry-eyed over some fairly questionable characters with less than honorable morals and hygiene habits. I may be getting old. I may be too pregnant to appreciate the thought of an overly aggressive lover. Of course, when things get physically and emotionally abusive, I draw the line and disconnect from any of the character's previous charm. I also develop a lack of patience for any characters that don't react the same way. Somehow, I became emotionally disconnected from both Lorraine and Zederick in one foul swoop.
Was it terrible? No, I really liked the back story - the abuse, the abandonment, the childhood misunderstanding and mystery. It was just as the story progressed - I became less and less enthralled with the present day incarnation of Lorraine's character. Final verdict: it was worth the few hours and negligible amount of money that I spent on it.
It's written by Lauren Kelly who - I didn't notice until I got home - is a pseudonym of Joyce Carol Oates. I'm not a huge fan, but I'm not prejudiced against her brand of contemporary fiction. In fact, I rather liked a sick little book I read awhile back called Zombie and Blonde has been in my "own-but-have-yet-to-read" pile for years. It was advertised on the front cover as "a novel of suspense," so I was eager to give it a quick read and see what it was all about. I finished it in just over a few hours, staying up late into the night to read it (really, not such an endorsement considering I'm nine months pregnant and not sleeping much to begin with).
The tale bounces back and forth between the early 1970s and a span of a few months in 1993, following a doll-faced awkward intellectual Lorraine (now known as Lara) Quade. A particularly harrowing childhood has left Lorraine/Lara scarred - both emotionally and physically - and this book chronicles her struggles to understand the past in order to live more fully in the future. When Lorraine receives an anonymous envelope with a ticket to an event on campus, she is put into contact with another party, Zederick Dewe, who is the recipient of the same strange gift. On the surface, the two have little in common; however, a strange, erotic charge binds them together which sets their strange, tragic relationship spiraling out of control.
At the beginning of the novel, I was entranced by Oates' lyrical language and mesmerizing back-and-forth between the harrowing past and the mysterious present. I was really into the story, but around the 50 page mark, I was hit by the "oh, crap, I know exactly where this is going" sense of accomplishment/defeat. And, indeed, I had figured out the mystery connection - which left the so-called "novel of suspense" feeling not so suspenseful. Sometimes, this doesn't necessarily taint the rest of the read. Unfortunately, this time, the wind was sucked entirely out of my proverbial sails, and I spent the rest of the book cursing my close-reading skills.
Likewise, my infatuation with Lorraine and Zederick waned as the book progressed. Don't get me wrong - I love a dangerous, slightly dirty, bad boy as much as the next girl. In my youth, I'd been known to get starry-eyed over some fairly questionable characters with less than honorable morals and hygiene habits. I may be getting old. I may be too pregnant to appreciate the thought of an overly aggressive lover. Of course, when things get physically and emotionally abusive, I draw the line and disconnect from any of the character's previous charm. I also develop a lack of patience for any characters that don't react the same way. Somehow, I became emotionally disconnected from both Lorraine and Zederick in one foul swoop.
Was it terrible? No, I really liked the back story - the abuse, the abandonment, the childhood misunderstanding and mystery. It was just as the story progressed - I became less and less enthralled with the present day incarnation of Lorraine's character. Final verdict: it was worth the few hours and negligible amount of money that I spent on it.
January 28, 2012
This could have been one of the best books that I had in a long time if the plot simply wasn’t mediocre. For there were a lot of emotions surging through every page of this book that the author herself was able to put them in ways that was both admirable and audacious. Take me, Take me with you by Lauren Kelly simply was bold, suspenseful, and thrilling as was topped with a careful touch of romance, eroticism and an ending that was both bittersweet and heartwarming.
The story mainly revolved around Lara Quade, a fellow in a research center in Princeton, New Jersey, as she received a letter from a mysterious man later he fell in love with and discovered as his half brother, through times when she have finally decided to go back and look into her past after what had been two decades of a normal life she had with her family that was altered by an accident and a crime she never knew happened. Gradually, Lara Quade found herself passionately falling in love with a man by the name of Zedrick Dewe as pieces by pieces of her past slowly unfolds and as the murder that her mom had committed had finally hit her like an explosion as she was as well able to reunite with his brother and visited their mom after being away from each other for so long.
This book really was lacking the appeal considering its main genre as suspense. And I had expected to feel like a sudden rush of adrenaline since what do you expect from novels of suspense obviously. but it wasn’t of a big deal anymore for I guess the romance and the ending that the author was able to come up with, did justice to everything and I honestly found myself having goosebumps upon the last chapter of the book. When everything had finally been revealed, When Lara visited her dying mother and was able to reunite with her brother, when she was finally okay with Zedrick, it has made me look back again to the book’s one of the best quotable lines : “You can learn from your past but then you move on, and you try not to look back.” . A simple book indeed, but with a powerful perspective. Worth the read still!
The story mainly revolved around Lara Quade, a fellow in a research center in Princeton, New Jersey, as she received a letter from a mysterious man later he fell in love with and discovered as his half brother, through times when she have finally decided to go back and look into her past after what had been two decades of a normal life she had with her family that was altered by an accident and a crime she never knew happened. Gradually, Lara Quade found herself passionately falling in love with a man by the name of Zedrick Dewe as pieces by pieces of her past slowly unfolds and as the murder that her mom had committed had finally hit her like an explosion as she was as well able to reunite with his brother and visited their mom after being away from each other for so long.
This book really was lacking the appeal considering its main genre as suspense. And I had expected to feel like a sudden rush of adrenaline since what do you expect from novels of suspense obviously. but it wasn’t of a big deal anymore for I guess the romance and the ending that the author was able to come up with, did justice to everything and I honestly found myself having goosebumps upon the last chapter of the book. When everything had finally been revealed, When Lara visited her dying mother and was able to reunite with her brother, when she was finally okay with Zedrick, it has made me look back again to the book’s one of the best quotable lines : “You can learn from your past but then you move on, and you try not to look back.” . A simple book indeed, but with a powerful perspective. Worth the read still!
December 20, 2021
Not sure who dubbed this a "NOVEL OF SUSPENSE" but they should probably have their head examined. This was more like a NOVEL OF EXpense....(as in wasted time). The only thing going for this book - was you could tell the author had talent. But....that's already been established since it's Joyce Carol Oats using a Pseudonym. And speaking of that.....what's the point? You're an author.... you write books.....you get them published......and then you need to make up a new name? Is the process of getting a new book published so exciting that you want to re-live it again? Like renewing your wedding vows or something? Or are there split personality issues here? This book was so useless and meaningless it's got me crabby now. I just hate wasting precious time on a dud when I could have been enjoying a gem. I couldn't connect or relate to any of the characters.....the plot NEVER came together as far as I was concerned.....and there was never a point in the story where I felt any form of suspense or twist or excitement of any kind whatsoever. I read the whole book - but still feel somewhat lost.....and can't help but ask myself "What was the point of that?" Hated this books guts.
July 29, 2016
I registered this book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14086945
Quite the freaky little story. But don't be turned away by that. It's just...unusual.
Lara Quade, working at a Princeton research center (and proud of it), is given a ticket to a classical concert, anonymously. She hasn't the bucks to afford such seats so she goes, and sits next to a rather bumbling large man who reveals that he, too, received a ticket anonymously.
Lara is a bit of a loner and a little bit of her is intrigued by her strange seatmate. They get to know each other. Their knowing leads to a physical altercation and a falling-out and that seems to be the end of it. But it isn't. Lara does a bit of investigating and figures out where he came from, where he really lives, and it isn't far from where she grew up.
Much of the cloud that hangs over them both comes from their pasts. Lara having almost been killed by her mother's attempt at a suicide, and Zederick having spent much time trying to find his own place. Both seem to be outcasts, in a way.
It's disturbing, at times frightening, revealing.
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14086945
Quite the freaky little story. But don't be turned away by that. It's just...unusual.
Lara Quade, working at a Princeton research center (and proud of it), is given a ticket to a classical concert, anonymously. She hasn't the bucks to afford such seats so she goes, and sits next to a rather bumbling large man who reveals that he, too, received a ticket anonymously.
Lara is a bit of a loner and a little bit of her is intrigued by her strange seatmate. They get to know each other. Their knowing leads to a physical altercation and a falling-out and that seems to be the end of it. But it isn't. Lara does a bit of investigating and figures out where he came from, where he really lives, and it isn't far from where she grew up.
Much of the cloud that hangs over them both comes from their pasts. Lara having almost been killed by her mother's attempt at a suicide, and Zederick having spent much time trying to find his own place. Both seem to be outcasts, in a way.
It's disturbing, at times frightening, revealing.
June 2, 2017
This book was really well written, but at times the subject matter was uncomfortable. I knew early in the book where the author was taking you, but it was still a good read. How mothers and their children deal with grief, shame, and guilt form the core of the story. The real thing about the book that resonated so much with me was how little the children knew of the backstory (i.e., why their parents broke up and what happened to their father). It's incredible how little family talks about trauma or heartbreak of the past and how children process bits and pieces.
December 18, 2022
Pros: No chance of a sequel
Cons: Whodunit¿ Who cares.
The Bottom Line: Read this book twice. All the tedium and suffering the first time turns to pure hilarity the second. Could be the worst book ever written.
Warning: Some may find some parts offensive
Take Me, Take Me With You: A Novel Of Suspense, by Joyce Carol Oates, written under the pseudonym of Lauren Kelly, is novel only in its lack of suspense. I think the title may refer to Oates´ calling to her writing talent as it slipped away. No suspense there, as she and her talent clearly 86´d and left the rest of us with pure yawner credited to a non-entity. Lauren Kellys of the world unite¡ Your name has been taken in vain.
Take Me, Take Me With You is a muddled story about the life of Lara Quade, past and present. Lara has had a difficult life. She was partially disfigured as a young girl when the car her crazy mother was driving was struck by a train. She, her mother, and older brother survived the "accident". The three were all affected by the crash. Brother Ryan was left with a mangled leg, and mama just got loonier.
Lara´s father Duncan was an angry, violent alcoholic who left the family to live with another woman in a nearby upstate New York town. Mama Hedy was outraged at the thought of Duncan living with "swine", and she continually reminds her children during continual flashbacks that continually add little suspense to the plot.
Sometime prior to the crash, Duncan is convicted of stabbing his girlfriend to death. He gets murdered by a fellow (love that word) inmate in Sing-Sing right before the time of the "accident".
After a time for healing, Hedy takes the kids away from town to town, throughout these great United States. They never settle down. Ryan becomes a heroin addict and Hedy gets lost. Lara sticks to the books and eventually earns a research assistant gig at Princeton University where she plods along, living like a 20-something spinster.
The present tense plot starts with a $45 ticket to a chamber music concert at an auditorium on the Princeton campus. The ticket was inside an envelope addressed simply, L Quade, written in old-fashioned script. No indication of who gave her the ticket, though she knew it didn´t come from the school. Pretty suspenseful, eh¿
Lara shows up at the concert, right up front with all the wealthy blue-hairs. Right before the concert starts, a big, grungy brute sits next to her. She is repulsed, as is the old lady in front of him who keeps getting the back of her seat pushed in. Sounds kinda kinky. But I digress. The brute keeps trying to make small talk with her. She wishes she could get a break from him at intermission, but he is too big on one side and there are too many oldsters on her other side to wade through.
Eventually, the brute tells her about his letter with a lone ticket. He pulls out the envelope and on it is written Z Dewe, in the same script as hers had been. What a coincidence. Say, they do have something in common¡
Wouldn´t you know it, Zedrick, the brute´s name is Zedrick, walks her back to her apartment. She invites this formerly repulsive brute upstairs where he before long makes a clumsy pass at her that she rejects. He knocks her around, calls her a c*cktease and a c*nt, then leaves. She is left with bruises and a dreadful fear of him coming back. Call the cops¿ Nah.
Meanwhile, back at the office, her obese but very distinguished boss, whom she has spoken to only once, takes a shine to some of her research, asks her to do a mammoth, quick deadline add on of footnotes and such, before inviting her to accompany him to London the following Monday, where he is scheduled to give a presentation that will include her research. Blah, blah, blah. Lara gets all excited, even has fantasies of bumping uglies with this pig. Jeesh¡
Next day, Lara gets to work and discovers that the Director had been mugged the night before. Severely beaten with a blunt instrument. He was in critical condition. So much for London. Oh yeah, besides his wallet, the Director also had his distinctive silk tie taken from him.
Lara returns home after work and enters her living room. OMG¡¡¡ "...something wrong. I could smell his scent." I´m not making this up. LOL. "And the smell: as of singed oiled hair. A stale odor of male perspiration." She discovers that her doll collection had been rearranged. Note: I thought I was anal¡ Then she finds one of her formerly "sparkly clean" glasses had been used to get a drink of water. "He´d drunk from it, the impress of his mouth on the rim glowed with a just-visible scummy phosphorescence." Personally, I don´t know about the "impress of his mouth", but I´m less than impressed with this writing. Sad, really. "Quickly", she washed and dried the glass. So much for evidence, Sherlock.
As soon as Lara stepped into her bedroom she knew he had been there, too. "For here his scent was stronger, like an animal's." She checked the toilet. EEK¡¡¡ "....the toilet was unflushed. Yellow with urine." As opposed to brown with poop¿ Sorry, had to get that in there. "Quickly I flushed it, and backed away. "Pig. Disgusting." " I´m starting to sense some male issues here. Is it just me¿
Lara goes on to discover that her dead father's broken watch had been taken. Broken when he was murdered in prison. Her only possession left of her father´s. Then she finds an envelope with her name on it, in the same script as the one the ticket came in. What was inside this envelope¿ Sit down and take a deep breath........ the Director's expensive silk tie, full of blood. No mention if it had a manly and/or animal scent to it.
So, what to do. Beaten in a failed date rape, apartment burglarized, holding the bloodstained necktie of her boss, who is fighting for his life in intensive care. Call the cops, right. Nope. Why not¿ No idea.
Lara then tracks down Zedrick in upstate New York, surprisingly close to where her dad had killed the "swine" girlfriend. Hmmm. Who needs cops when you can track a guy down from a matchbook you took from his jacket pocket before he slammed you around the room.
Isn´t this fun¿ As a bonus, between each present tense chapter is a shorter, non-suspenseful, but nonsensical chapter in the past tense.
Lara buys a 9" kitchen cutting knife, stuffs it into a duffel bag, and enters Zed´s house. I was truly surprised that it wasn´t a trailer with a lawn jockey in front. Zed wasn´t home and Lara was determined to recover her father´s watch. She finds it. She notes that "His bedroom had in fact the look and smell of a beast´s lair". Question: Could Lara´s father in fact have been that famous star of stage and screen, Mr Jimmy Durante¿ Inka dinka do¡
Mission accomplished.... but wait¿ "Yet somehow I lingered. I was brazen, reckless." YOU WERE STUPID¡ She then proceeds to get drunk from an open bottle of the true cracker brand of booze, Gordon´s gin. She then ponders a bit more on Zed´s smell before falling asleep on HIS bed. Carumba?¡¿! By this point in the book, I just want the bítch to die. Sorry, but a guy can only take so much.
Lara awakes to find Zed standing over the bed staring at her. "....and I could smell his body." Good grief¡ Next thing you know they have become lovers, but not "in the most technical sense." Lara Durante meets Zed Clinton. The cigar is on me. They all but bump uglies AFTER discovering that they are half-brother, half-sister.
They then go out drinking together and have a bite to eat, talking old times. Chewing the fat, if you will. Better yet, smelling the roses along the way. They returned to his house where old Zed performed some magical cunnílingus on the old girl as ..... "I lay amid the smelly sheets in a daze....."
Later, in the haze of great incestual sex, Zed tells how it wasn´t their father who committed the murder. Suddenly, Lara flashes on who the perpetrator must have been. She could probably smell it. Zed starts getting angry at the injustice as he speaks. She freaks out and starts to run away in shock, knowing now that it was someone else. --It wasn´t Zed--. That might have been suspenseful. Can´t have that. Zed grabs her with force. She pulls away and he pulls her hair. Zed then gets turned on, "giving off a smell of raw hurt, need, sexual arousal."
Lara decides this is a smart time to accuse him of the attempted murder of her boss. Zed´s best reply is, "f*cker got in my way. O.K.? Now we´re even." Note: there is no explanation how Zed could have possibly known about the London trip, among a hundred or so other facts. Zed then lifted Lara off the ground and threw her against the wall. Gosh darn lucky Lara had the duffel bag handy. She reached in and grabbed the 9" knife and slashed away at Zed´s arms and hands. "Not to kill. Only in self-defense." Zed was a bloody mess. Zed´s response, " "What? Honey--hey: I wasn´t going to hurt you. Why´d you cut me? How´m I gonna work tomorrow?" " Note: Send Oates latest Jerry Springer DVD for her next birthday. Lara´s thought about this clown, "I was overcome with shame. Yet I couldn´t trust him." DUH¡ Lara then washed Zed´s wounds with a kitchen towel. Zed cried. Lara drove back to Princeton, her body in physical pain. She was happy that she got the watch back, though. Does she call the cops¿ No.
Lara later tracks down her brother who takes her to her mother. She actually suggests that her brother meet Zed. She tells him that he would appreciate Zed´s paintings.
So much for the plot. I´ve said enough to raise the suspense, without giving away the whole story. °)
As to the title¿ Beyond the constant smells, Oates constantly compares every stupid thing to something synonymous in her mind. It was like a ..... as if it were..... as it..... It really became annoying after a few chapters. "Like the highly charged air before an electrical storm." Egads, woman¡ Shut up.
I originally gave this 2 stars. But after running through the book again a second time, knowing the plot, or lack of, I realized how horrible this story is. A Frenchman in retreat could write a more plausible piece of garbage.
Seriously, I actually enjoyed the second read. It was and is funny. Beware: the first read is torture.
Still waiting for news of the Director. On a respirator last I heard. Oh, well. Guess I´m just a stickler for attempted homicides.
Cons: Whodunit¿ Who cares.
The Bottom Line: Read this book twice. All the tedium and suffering the first time turns to pure hilarity the second. Could be the worst book ever written.
Warning: Some may find some parts offensive
Take Me, Take Me With You: A Novel Of Suspense, by Joyce Carol Oates, written under the pseudonym of Lauren Kelly, is novel only in its lack of suspense. I think the title may refer to Oates´ calling to her writing talent as it slipped away. No suspense there, as she and her talent clearly 86´d and left the rest of us with pure yawner credited to a non-entity. Lauren Kellys of the world unite¡ Your name has been taken in vain.
Take Me, Take Me With You is a muddled story about the life of Lara Quade, past and present. Lara has had a difficult life. She was partially disfigured as a young girl when the car her crazy mother was driving was struck by a train. She, her mother, and older brother survived the "accident". The three were all affected by the crash. Brother Ryan was left with a mangled leg, and mama just got loonier.
Lara´s father Duncan was an angry, violent alcoholic who left the family to live with another woman in a nearby upstate New York town. Mama Hedy was outraged at the thought of Duncan living with "swine", and she continually reminds her children during continual flashbacks that continually add little suspense to the plot.
Sometime prior to the crash, Duncan is convicted of stabbing his girlfriend to death. He gets murdered by a fellow (love that word) inmate in Sing-Sing right before the time of the "accident".
After a time for healing, Hedy takes the kids away from town to town, throughout these great United States. They never settle down. Ryan becomes a heroin addict and Hedy gets lost. Lara sticks to the books and eventually earns a research assistant gig at Princeton University where she plods along, living like a 20-something spinster.
The present tense plot starts with a $45 ticket to a chamber music concert at an auditorium on the Princeton campus. The ticket was inside an envelope addressed simply, L Quade, written in old-fashioned script. No indication of who gave her the ticket, though she knew it didn´t come from the school. Pretty suspenseful, eh¿
Lara shows up at the concert, right up front with all the wealthy blue-hairs. Right before the concert starts, a big, grungy brute sits next to her. She is repulsed, as is the old lady in front of him who keeps getting the back of her seat pushed in. Sounds kinda kinky. But I digress. The brute keeps trying to make small talk with her. She wishes she could get a break from him at intermission, but he is too big on one side and there are too many oldsters on her other side to wade through.
Eventually, the brute tells her about his letter with a lone ticket. He pulls out the envelope and on it is written Z Dewe, in the same script as hers had been. What a coincidence. Say, they do have something in common¡
Wouldn´t you know it, Zedrick, the brute´s name is Zedrick, walks her back to her apartment. She invites this formerly repulsive brute upstairs where he before long makes a clumsy pass at her that she rejects. He knocks her around, calls her a c*cktease and a c*nt, then leaves. She is left with bruises and a dreadful fear of him coming back. Call the cops¿ Nah.
Meanwhile, back at the office, her obese but very distinguished boss, whom she has spoken to only once, takes a shine to some of her research, asks her to do a mammoth, quick deadline add on of footnotes and such, before inviting her to accompany him to London the following Monday, where he is scheduled to give a presentation that will include her research. Blah, blah, blah. Lara gets all excited, even has fantasies of bumping uglies with this pig. Jeesh¡
Next day, Lara gets to work and discovers that the Director had been mugged the night before. Severely beaten with a blunt instrument. He was in critical condition. So much for London. Oh yeah, besides his wallet, the Director also had his distinctive silk tie taken from him.
Lara returns home after work and enters her living room. OMG¡¡¡ "...something wrong. I could smell his scent." I´m not making this up. LOL. "And the smell: as of singed oiled hair. A stale odor of male perspiration." She discovers that her doll collection had been rearranged. Note: I thought I was anal¡ Then she finds one of her formerly "sparkly clean" glasses had been used to get a drink of water. "He´d drunk from it, the impress of his mouth on the rim glowed with a just-visible scummy phosphorescence." Personally, I don´t know about the "impress of his mouth", but I´m less than impressed with this writing. Sad, really. "Quickly", she washed and dried the glass. So much for evidence, Sherlock.
As soon as Lara stepped into her bedroom she knew he had been there, too. "For here his scent was stronger, like an animal's." She checked the toilet. EEK¡¡¡ "....the toilet was unflushed. Yellow with urine." As opposed to brown with poop¿ Sorry, had to get that in there. "Quickly I flushed it, and backed away. "Pig. Disgusting." " I´m starting to sense some male issues here. Is it just me¿
Lara goes on to discover that her dead father's broken watch had been taken. Broken when he was murdered in prison. Her only possession left of her father´s. Then she finds an envelope with her name on it, in the same script as the one the ticket came in. What was inside this envelope¿ Sit down and take a deep breath........ the Director's expensive silk tie, full of blood. No mention if it had a manly and/or animal scent to it.
So, what to do. Beaten in a failed date rape, apartment burglarized, holding the bloodstained necktie of her boss, who is fighting for his life in intensive care. Call the cops, right. Nope. Why not¿ No idea.
Lara then tracks down Zedrick in upstate New York, surprisingly close to where her dad had killed the "swine" girlfriend. Hmmm. Who needs cops when you can track a guy down from a matchbook you took from his jacket pocket before he slammed you around the room.
Isn´t this fun¿ As a bonus, between each present tense chapter is a shorter, non-suspenseful, but nonsensical chapter in the past tense.
Lara buys a 9" kitchen cutting knife, stuffs it into a duffel bag, and enters Zed´s house. I was truly surprised that it wasn´t a trailer with a lawn jockey in front. Zed wasn´t home and Lara was determined to recover her father´s watch. She finds it. She notes that "His bedroom had in fact the look and smell of a beast´s lair". Question: Could Lara´s father in fact have been that famous star of stage and screen, Mr Jimmy Durante¿ Inka dinka do¡
Mission accomplished.... but wait¿ "Yet somehow I lingered. I was brazen, reckless." YOU WERE STUPID¡ She then proceeds to get drunk from an open bottle of the true cracker brand of booze, Gordon´s gin. She then ponders a bit more on Zed´s smell before falling asleep on HIS bed. Carumba?¡¿! By this point in the book, I just want the bítch to die. Sorry, but a guy can only take so much.
Lara awakes to find Zed standing over the bed staring at her. "....and I could smell his body." Good grief¡ Next thing you know they have become lovers, but not "in the most technical sense." Lara Durante meets Zed Clinton. The cigar is on me. They all but bump uglies AFTER discovering that they are half-brother, half-sister.
They then go out drinking together and have a bite to eat, talking old times. Chewing the fat, if you will. Better yet, smelling the roses along the way. They returned to his house where old Zed performed some magical cunnílingus on the old girl as ..... "I lay amid the smelly sheets in a daze....."
Later, in the haze of great incestual sex, Zed tells how it wasn´t their father who committed the murder. Suddenly, Lara flashes on who the perpetrator must have been. She could probably smell it. Zed starts getting angry at the injustice as he speaks. She freaks out and starts to run away in shock, knowing now that it was someone else. --It wasn´t Zed--. That might have been suspenseful. Can´t have that. Zed grabs her with force. She pulls away and he pulls her hair. Zed then gets turned on, "giving off a smell of raw hurt, need, sexual arousal."
Lara decides this is a smart time to accuse him of the attempted murder of her boss. Zed´s best reply is, "f*cker got in my way. O.K.? Now we´re even." Note: there is no explanation how Zed could have possibly known about the London trip, among a hundred or so other facts. Zed then lifted Lara off the ground and threw her against the wall. Gosh darn lucky Lara had the duffel bag handy. She reached in and grabbed the 9" knife and slashed away at Zed´s arms and hands. "Not to kill. Only in self-defense." Zed was a bloody mess. Zed´s response, " "What? Honey--hey: I wasn´t going to hurt you. Why´d you cut me? How´m I gonna work tomorrow?" " Note: Send Oates latest Jerry Springer DVD for her next birthday. Lara´s thought about this clown, "I was overcome with shame. Yet I couldn´t trust him." DUH¡ Lara then washed Zed´s wounds with a kitchen towel. Zed cried. Lara drove back to Princeton, her body in physical pain. She was happy that she got the watch back, though. Does she call the cops¿ No.
Lara later tracks down her brother who takes her to her mother. She actually suggests that her brother meet Zed. She tells him that he would appreciate Zed´s paintings.
So much for the plot. I´ve said enough to raise the suspense, without giving away the whole story. °)
As to the title¿ Beyond the constant smells, Oates constantly compares every stupid thing to something synonymous in her mind. It was like a ..... as if it were..... as it..... It really became annoying after a few chapters. "Like the highly charged air before an electrical storm." Egads, woman¡ Shut up.
I originally gave this 2 stars. But after running through the book again a second time, knowing the plot, or lack of, I realized how horrible this story is. A Frenchman in retreat could write a more plausible piece of garbage.
Seriously, I actually enjoyed the second read. It was and is funny. Beware: the first read is torture.
Still waiting for news of the Director. On a respirator last I heard. Oh, well. Guess I´m just a stickler for attempted homicides.
January 6, 2020
I will start off by saying, I did find the way she had Lara relating her childhood to her current life interesting. She really gave a good description of the childhood trauma Lara went through from her POV. However, I was left rather disappointed in the plot. It would start to get suspenseful in some parts, and instead of the suspense building and building to a point, it’s almost like it plateaued. It was far from a bad read, but not something I’d introduce people to as a MUST read.
December 26, 2021
This is incredible. At first it seems as if Kelly/Oates is keeping the tension going almost entirely through the feverish quality of the prose and the main character's weird subjectivity. Then the totally bananas plot elements start coming at you. I love almost everything from Oates's pseudonymous thriller collection. This is not quite may favorite; it's behind NEMESIS and SOUL/MATE but not by much.
February 17, 2018
So disappointed in this book. I felt that the pose was floral without the fragrance. It was distracting. I also thought that JCO could have expanded, collapsed story lines to write a more robust story.
June 28, 2023
Honestly I just bought this book at the thrift store because the summary in the back of the book sounded interesting. Now that I’ve read it I can say that I liked some things but the sexual relationship between the half siblings creeped me out and it was quite unnecessary in my opinion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 19, 2024
Have you ever read a book that is so terrible, your first instinct is to burn your copy to prevent others from being subjected to something so bad?
I purchased this book eons ago on a 3/$10 table at Indigo (honestly, I’m even mad about spending those few $$ on it now). Let it sit for a good 10 years before finally cracking it and honestly all I have to say is “what the actual F*** did I just read?”
I’m sorry, suspense? I figured out the “big twist” the second the second character was introduced - and then had to piece the story together myself because it was so terribly written. The flip-flopping between the 70s and 90s is just so sloppy and doesn’t make sense, and I just genuinely know that I won’t make sense trying to write this review because I’m just so upset at how terrible this book was.
Also HUGE trigger warning - the “erotic suspense” homegirl is talking about is incest. The only sex (which happens on multiple occasions) in the book is literal incest. That definitely would’ve been a nice warning before I opened the book.
Into the burn barrel it goes. Seriously. I couldn’t live with myself if I handed my copy off to someone else to be subjected to.
I purchased this book eons ago on a 3/$10 table at Indigo (honestly, I’m even mad about spending those few $$ on it now). Let it sit for a good 10 years before finally cracking it and honestly all I have to say is “what the actual F*** did I just read?”
I’m sorry, suspense? I figured out the “big twist” the second the second character was introduced - and then had to piece the story together myself because it was so terribly written. The flip-flopping between the 70s and 90s is just so sloppy and doesn’t make sense, and I just genuinely know that I won’t make sense trying to write this review because I’m just so upset at how terrible this book was.
Also HUGE trigger warning - the “erotic suspense” homegirl is talking about is incest. The only sex (which happens on multiple occasions) in the book is literal incest. That definitely would’ve been a nice warning before I opened the book.
Into the burn barrel it goes. Seriously. I couldn’t live with myself if I handed my copy off to someone else to be subjected to.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 25, 2024
Umm. What. This was written in the style you might find people doing at open mic nights doing spoken word. I hated it. And Lara and Zed’s relationship. Why.
February 28, 2015
WOW. Un de mes coups de cœur à vie, et ils ne sont pas si nombreux, surtout quand on parle de thrillers! Mais bon, les Albin Michel sont pas mal toujours bons. C’est une fille – Lara – qui est assistante de recherche à l’Université de Princeton. Au début, tout ce qu’on sait d’elle c’est que son père est parti quand elle était petite, que sa mère était alcoolique et qu’ils ont eu (elle, sa mère et son frère) un accident de voiture, mais que personne n’est mort. Au moment où le roman commence, elle vit seule dans un petit appart. Un jour, elle reçoit dans une enveloppe anonyme un billet pour un concert, et elle s’y rend en se demandant qui peut bien lui avoir envoyé ce billet. Tout le long je suis restée scotchée, c’est fou à quel point c’est prenant! Le roman est vraiment bien écrit, de sorte qu’on visualise les lieux, les personnages, et qu’on s’imagine à la place de Lara. Mettons qu’on en voit de toutes les couleurs!
August 21, 2010
Take Me, Take Me with You is a creepy creepy read. very well done creepiness, as you'd expect from Joyce Carol Oates (writing under a pseudonym here as Lauren Kelly).
it's the sort of book that, if you grew up in a violent, booze-soaked household, might cause you to dive for whatever you use to self-medicate.
approach with caution. it's a good 'un, but don't be hoping for a sunny, redemptive ending.
it's the sort of book that, if you grew up in a violent, booze-soaked household, might cause you to dive for whatever you use to self-medicate.
approach with caution. it's a good 'un, but don't be hoping for a sunny, redemptive ending.
November 16, 2013
Very dark, and suspenseful in moments. The book kept me interested from the moment I saw the cover. It was simply intriguing. The story is just so original, and I liked that. The dialogue and interaction between the main character and the mystery man, don't want to spoil anything, but I just want to say that it was very real. Very exposed. The feelings brought up in this book aren't for the light-hearted. It was a weird experience too in some moments. But of course I didn't expect anything less from this Author.
May 26, 2016
Great writing, but very unrelatable characters and boring plot which left me quite frustrated. The incest also made me pretty uncomfortable...
I understand that Lara was craving love and that she returns to Zed in the end even knowing he is violent and deranged because that's the way her father was and she never got any love from him, but I felt so many times like she would have been able to leave and never come back. The uncertainty and confusion of her thoughts and feelings are understandable but a little messy at times, leaving the reader more confused than empathetic towards her.
I understand that Lara was craving love and that she returns to Zed in the end even knowing he is violent and deranged because that's the way her father was and she never got any love from him, but I felt so many times like she would have been able to leave and never come back. The uncertainty and confusion of her thoughts and feelings are understandable but a little messy at times, leaving the reader more confused than empathetic towards her.
September 19, 2015
I didn't see "Joyce Carol Oates writing as" on the cover until after I'd started the book, and then I thought, "oh." The stories of hers that I've read are too disturbing, almost always with women as semi-complicit victims of violent men. That theme is in this novel as well. It did keep me turning the pages, but the ending was unsatisfying in every way. Also the reveal was obvious to me all along - maybe it was meant to be, but I couldn't tell.
March 29, 2020
I finally finished this book, what I like is not much in suspense as described its brief plot but more on the psychological battles all the main characters have been facing.
Lorraine/Lara for the childhood trauma and resentment for a mother who was far gone.
Hedy, a mother who's alcoholism turns into madness when faced by jealousy.
Ryan who's brain was deeply affected by the accident which turns him into addiction.,
Zedrick for his resentment to the killer of his mother.
Lorraine/Lara for the childhood trauma and resentment for a mother who was far gone.
Hedy, a mother who's alcoholism turns into madness when faced by jealousy.
Ryan who's brain was deeply affected by the accident which turns him into addiction.,
Zedrick for his resentment to the killer of his mother.
December 28, 2024
Author Lauren Kelly is Joyce Carol Oates. I really could not tell from this book that they were one and the same. I'm not that fond of JC Oates' writing a lot of the time, but really loved this book. Mysterious, dark and a little sick, this book pulled me in and I was totally engrossed from page 1 to the end.
December 26, 2018
The pace at the start of the story gave me a rush of adrenline.
It was superbly crafted, moving in time and presenting the future before the present. The characters were seedy, and the decisions and choices of the protagonist made it hard to root for her. But at the end I accepted her choice along with her.
It was superbly crafted, moving in time and presenting the future before the present. The characters were seedy, and the decisions and choices of the protagonist made it hard to root for her. But at the end I accepted her choice along with her.
December 16, 2009
I kept feeling like I had read this book before. Either it's similar to a book I've already read, or I started reading it and it wasn't memorable enough to remember that I already read it. Very weird.
August 30, 2007
Fabulous first chapter. All down hill from there. Probably not worth reading unless you're substituting for a James Patterson book. Maybe not even then.
July 11, 2008
Hated it.
September 20, 2008
Not much plot. Could have been further developed.
April 30, 2009
Very similar to her writings as Joyce Carol Oates. A little confused as to why she writes under the two different names. Albeit a decent read.
April 10, 2010
Felt rushed; kind of strung-along story about a woman coming to terms with her mother and her past. So-so, mediocre book.
Want to read
December 8, 2010I didn't get to finish this one because my sister stole it from me on the plane... plan to finish.
September 18, 2012
Typical Joyce Carol Oates book. Typical of me to love it. Not for everyone but very intense with Oates' usual grown up adults looking for answers about their families.
April 30, 2013
Disappointing. The story was interesting, to a point, but ultimately, went pretty much nowhere.
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