Things aren’t going well for Joseph Geist. He’s broke. His graduate school advisor won’t talk to him. And his girlfriend has kicked him out of her apartment, leaving him homeless and alone. It’s a tough spot for a philosopher to be in, and he’s ready to give up all hope of happiness when an ad in the local paper catches his eye.
‘Conversationalist wanted’, it reads.
Which sounds perfect to Joseph. After all, he’s never done anything in his life except talk. And the woman behind the ad turns out to be the perfect employer: brilliant, generous, and willing to pay him for making conversation. Before long, Joseph has moved in with her, and has begun to feel very comfortable in her big, beautiful house.
So comfortable, in fact, that he would do anything to stay there-forever.
‘Conversationalist wanted’, it reads.
Which sounds perfect to Joseph. After all, he’s never done anything in his life except talk. And the woman behind the ad turns out to be the perfect employer: brilliant, generous, and willing to pay him for making conversation. Before long, Joseph has moved in with her, and has begun to feel very comfortable in her big, beautiful house.
So comfortable, in fact, that he would do anything to stay there-forever.
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Reviews
Cements the young American as one of the hottest crime writers around
The plot builds to a climax that's as devastating as it is plausible. Few thriller writers today are as gifted as Kellerman at using lucid and evocative prose in the service of an intense and nail-biting story
Kellerman is an inspired stylist with a darkly witty sensibility that owes much to Patricia Highsmith
Exudes the subtle menace of Hitchcock at his very best . . . This is a deft, sinuous thriller that creeps up on you like a knife in the darkness--and is every bit as satisfying as the lavish Viennese cream cakes its central characters are so fond of