Book Review: "Caring is Creepy" by David Zimmerman

It is 2005, and 15 year old Lynn Marie Sugrue doesn’t have control over much in her life.  Her father took off a few years ago, and her mother works almost around the clock as a nurse at the nearby hospital.  Mom’s latest boyfriend is Hayes, who brings a whole world of trouble into their house, thanks to his drug dealing ways.  Lynn’s best friend (and only friend) is the alpha in their friendship, which makes Lynn the follower – always having to make the decision between speaking her mind or causing a fight.  Lynn befriends an unhappy soldier online, Logan, and they eventually they meet.  The soldier makes the decision to go AWOL and hides in Lynn’s closet/storage area.  This changes Lynn, and gives her a sense of power for once in a relationship.  Everything changes in one night – when the trouble following Hayes finds him in the Sugrue’s living room.

First things first – this book is super creepy.  It makes you feel uncomfortable and strange.  It really gets into your head and under your skin in a way that I haven’t experienced when reading in a long time.  Lynn starts out as a character that you want to pity a bit, see her grow a backbone or at least do something constructive.  But when everything starts to happen with Logan, it gets a little weird.  Then a whole lot weird and things just don’t happen the way you’d expect and definitely not the way you wanted.  On top of all of that, she is also dealing with the fallout of Hayes and his drug-deal-gone-bad.  This adds some serious violence to the weirdness in her life, and my head just kept spinning.

Some of the situations that Lynn found herself in were a little hard to accept, but strangely enough these were before she started hiding a man in her attic space.  The best friend character was spot on as a toxic friend, and I really wanted to give her a flick to the forehead once or twice.  The mother though…  granted she’s got good reason to be the typical absent parent – single mom with a demanding job and tough schedule – but when your daughter tells you that crap is happening around the house, you need to listen and not just tell her to lock the door when home alone all night.  She was frustrating, and I’ll leave it at that.

If you are looking for a book to give you the feels – and not the warm and fuzzy ones – this is for you.

*****
Caring is Creepy
by David Zimmerman
Soho Press, 2012
323 pages
Source:  Library
*****
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