Title: Heartbreaker
Author: Thomas Duffy
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 978-1517416539
Pages: 183
Genre: Fiction-Thriller
Reviewed by: CC Thomas
Hollywood Book Reviews
Amber Robertson is one red-hot mess, from beginning to end. Amber is a 19-year-old who has just moved to New York City in order to make more out of her life. Without much of a plan, she moves in with a friend and then scrambles wildly trying to make the rent money. The Big Apple is too much of a big temptation and Amber is soon arrested and behind bars for shoplifting. While in jail, she cozies up to a prostitute and discovers there are better ways of making money than her shift at Target and palming candy bars.
This girl! (Insert dramatic eye-roll here.) If this were the only frustrating thing she did in the whole book, it would be easy to overlook. While there are no judgements against a girl earning some money, Amber just throws herself into her new career field without any planning or forethought. And, guess what happens? Yep, disaster. Again. One of her first clients, Miguel, becomes so enamored of her that he kidnaps her and takes her back to his house where he keeps her prisoner until he can teach her some lessons. (Good luck with that, Miguel.) Does Amber learn anything with her disturbed lothario? Nope. As soon as she’s released, she goes home with the first guy she finds and decides to live with him, while still tricking on the side to get some extra spending cash. Sounds like a plan, right?
Except this new guy just might be a wanted serial killer. What are the signs? He lies beside her at night and strokes her body with his knife. This girl! (Another dramatic eye-roll.) This is one of those characters you’re going to speak to throughout the entire book. You want to reach out and grab her and knock some sense into her. Reading this book is like watching those horror movies where the victims rush around screaming as loud as they can while drawing their attacker to them. Amber is one of those characters. Seriously, you’ll feel like a life coach and want to call her up and give her advice throughout the entire book. What makes the story so maddening is that Amber is also really unlikeable. She’s unpleasant, difficult, and doesn’t learn from her mistakes. By the end of the book, you won’t’ be able to decide if Amber deserves any happiness that comes her way. However, optimists might disagree. Amber does have some good qualities and her dream of finding a life of happiness after a youth of misery will make you pull for her. See the frustration? She’s like a tug of war on your heart and logic. The title of Heartbreaker was aptly chosen.
The book is action-packed, flowing from one scene to another. There is very little emotional reminiscing which makes it similar to Charles Bukowski’s Women. The writing style has dialogue that is succinct and to the point. The characters are treated fairly and honestly with no excuses being made for their behavior. The characters are portrayed graphically and unemotionally, with all their scars laid bare for the world to see. It is a gritty and dark read, a story about love and the pain that many go through in order to live that happily-ever-after life. Amber’s haphazard foray into adulthood will have you alternately angry and depressed, then hopeful she’s finally on the path to happiness. If you want a book that won’t leave you untouched, this is the read to get all those emotions percolating.