Rating:

The Dangers of Obsession

Author: Thomas Tessier

Jeff Lister is a successful man, at least in the world’s eyes. He lives in Hollywood, he’s rich, and he has built his own multi-million-dollar computer business from scratch (it’s the late 80s). But Jeff is a divorced workaholic, and his rare times at home leave him staring at his fancy fish tank, alone. That’s before he returns to his out-of-the-way hometown for a funeral and makes a connection with his high school crush.

Jeff never asked Georgianne out, never took the risk of rejection. But he always wanted her. Even his current, underaged “girlfriend” is just a recreation of his high school love. So, when Jeff runs into Georgianne again, and he has more time and money than he can manage, he decides to kindle the flame that should have been. The problem? Georgianne has a family now. But with enough planning, enough careful maneuvering, some fake names and under-the-radar travel, Jeff can take care of all of that until the only thing Georgianne has left is him. It’s the perfect plan, but can he pull it off?

Rapture is a slow burn story with tight writing and a (mostly) realistic and decidedly creepy stalker plot. This is not your average slash-em’ horror story, but one built around obsession and desperation. Jeff’s warped thinking and justifications perfectly mimic those incel stalkers we’ve all seen, hiding in the background of the Internet, lurking in the dark places between loneliness and vindictiveness, self-satisfaction and scheming. It’s chilling, and we spend the entire time in Jeff’s head, watching him devolve, watching him over analyze the women around him, watching his machinations and calculated plays. The real problem with Jeff is that he is smart, and now he’s laser focused. Work can wait.

There’s another twist: Georgianne’s daughter, Bonnie, looks like Georgianne did back in Jeff’s high school days. Is Jeff more obsessed with the mother or the daughter? Even he can’t decide, and his fantasies warp and spiral, his desperate plots getting entangled by the daughter’s own brilliance. Bonnie has her suspicions, and Jeff has his weaknesses.

Image by Square Frog from Pixabay

The only element of the story that was not perfection was the conclusion. Both Bonnie and Georgianne suddenly have weird, nearly supernatural suspicions that seem baseless. As far as they should know, there are no red flags, no way for them to be able to preternaturally know about the murder (of course, you know that was going to be Jeff’s first move, right?)

The fiery ending races too quickly. We’ve been watching this slow burn, following this predator with disgust and fascination. Will he really go this far? Is he really this deluded, this unempathetic? How broken is this man, and does he have a limit? Then, suddenly, we get the final confrontation, but it’s hectic, unearned. There is no tear-filled dialogue, no accusations, just fast action followed by a banal afterthought. This bombshell story deserved more. It deserved the careful, layered ending that would have honored this creepy novel.

Still, I was just hooked on the story, on the way the words interwove, on the way Tessier made this repulsive character intriguing without ever excusing any of his actions. The thing about stories like Rapture is the very possibility they represent. You won’t look at those Internet people as quite so harmless anymore, and you might look at someone crushing on you in an entirely different light going forward. Recommended. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

– Frances Carden

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Frances Carden
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