A Dark Love

I wanted an easy book to read during my 9 days at VivoCity and the library was closing. So I picked A Dark Love by Margaret Carroll because of 2 things. One - the cover has a couple kissing so there's bound to be some "thrills". Two - the back of the book says it's a tale of passion tinged with terror. And I love to read psychological thrillers.

Except....

This book isn't a psychological thriller. It's a psychological thriller wanna-be. I've read plenty of psychological thrillers in my younger days so A Dark Love is pretty amateurish. I think the problem lies in the bad guy. He's not baaaad enough.

But it's not a bad book. It's quite a page-turner. It used most of the formula required for suspense. And I didn't even read it at VivoCity. I read it a few days ago, quite upsetting hubs because he's not used to the sight of my head buried in a novel.

Why are you reading? He kept asking me.

After I finished the book, I realized I had read a similar story many years ago. I saw the movie as well.

A Dark Love
Caroline married a brilliant and wealthy psychoanalyst only to discover too late he's a sick son-of-a-bitch who abuses her mentally and physically. He is obsessive, controlling and is fearful she flirts with other men. Caroline flees her home one day to a far away place. She falls in love with a handsome ex-athlete. But she tells no one her secret. Her husband hunts her down and tries to kill the handsome ex-athlete. He fails to do it and ends up dead. Happy ending for Caroline and handsome ex-athlete.

Sleeping with the enemy
Julia Roberts married a charming and wealthy investment counselor only to discover too late he's a sick son-of-a-bitch who abuses her mentally and physically. He is obsessive, controlling and is fearful she flirts with other men. Julia fakes her death and runs away to a far away place. She falls in love with a school teacher. But she tells no one her secret. Her husband finds out she's not dead and hunts her down and tries to kill the school teacher. He fails to do it and ends up dead. Happy ending for Julia and school teacher.

Plot is the same but how the stories are told is what makes the two books different.