The Helper <— I couldn’t resist one clicking this one. Cover… appealing, title… intriguing, and OMG!!!! WHAT. A. BLURB. JOLT!!!!! I was SO IN.

I mean, who could resist a down on her luck, single mom (recently out of a financially and emotionally abusive marriage), struggling to keep custody of her daughter due to poverty circumstances and being offered a unique job. I was already in, for that – I love a good hardback story turned into a success story!!

But… what could she possibly be hired for that was so outrageous? What was going to turn her life upside down?? I wanted to go on that ride with her SO bad and so… I did.

What’s it about? Well, that blurb says it best, and it all, without saying anything to spoil it:

“…When an ailing man offers her an outrageous proposal that could solve all her problems, Mary takes fate into her own hands and accepts, agreeing to the extraordinary thing this man is asking.

It’s a decision that changes everything. Because what Mary thought was true is in fact a lie, and now she faces a new reality that is far more disastrous than anything she could have imagined...”

Now I’m going to say if you want to go in blind, skip this next part entirely. I went in blind, just on the blurb alone, was pleasantly surprised, and enjoyed the whole ride (for the most part). I was a bit annoyed at the twist-reveal, but still wanted to see her whole journey through, and I was not disappointed in the book as a whole.

I’m giving this 4-stars for the unique plot line, for keeping me reading and invested, for giving me a thrill, and for the semi-clever twist.

Okay now… for those who don’t mind knowing a bit more when it comes to the details (this might actually make you want to read even more! But I still won’t spoil it)

She’s down on her luck, needs money, needs to change her life around for herself and her daughter, and is not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel…

The ride into work was for someone who had been able to survive the world, not in any noteworthy way, but survive nonetheless, and raise a daughter who might have a better life than her own.

The ride back is a journey for someone else. This is for a person who will surely not survive, who will be homeless, a person whose mind has already reminded her of that place under the bridge, next to the trees, where the other homeless people live. She has noticed it would not be such a bad place if that nightmare ever came true and she too needed a place on the streets. This is the ride of a person whose ex-husband will certainly now try to get custody of her child.

… until she gets a job interview, meets her potential employer at the Waffle House, and is offered a CRAZY job.

I feel light and tremendously relieved.

To be honest, I really need the work, so I’m sure I’ll be able to help.

He starts talking. He tells me what he would like me to do to help him. As he does, my brain is assimilating the words and the meaning, and I try to comprehend and make sense of them. But another part of me, a deeper part, does not accept his words. They are too bizarre; what he’s saying has no reference in the rational world.

Her initial relief at finally finding a job… dissipates.

I acknowledge this is shocking.

Back to the Waffle House.

I wouldn’t ask this unless I was absolutely sure this was the only choice.

Back to the booth, where this pale, neatly dressed man has just finished telling me the most audacious thing I’ve ever heard.

This job opportunity is clear, precise and foolproof, detailed down to the last letter. One that pays her handsomely and immediately upon completion, and one that… almost seems like an act of kindness and humanitarianism in the grand scheme of things. And what a scheme it is!

But due to circumstances, it can only be handled a certain way, for the benefit of all, and so… after much deliberation (and an initial outright decline), she takes the job.

He had planned everything. I’m trying not to think about the $200,000. Yes, he doubled it; he said he understood how it might be harder for me than it seemed to him.

Two hundred thousand dollars.

He has it all worked out. I didn’t want to hear the plan. It made it sound too real and too easy. But I heard it, a simple plan for me to get $200,000.

But, as “underground jobs” go, not everything goes to plan. Well, at least… not for everyone, involved, especially when there’s an extra detail that was omitted, and all hell breaks loose for our heroine.

I couldn’t see how she could possibly see her way out of this one, and it stressed me out the whole way through (and I love when that happens!!). 😂  P.S. I loved getting to know the heroine introspectively and I really connected to her and could relate to her. Her insecurities,

Why do I feel bad like that? Why do I feel so insecure, as if unless I’m helping other people, I am somehow at fault or not worthy of space in the world?

…her past abuse, her realizations and her methods of adapting to her current life. Her rationalizations.

How did I become like this . . . so fearful . . . letting my own flowers die out of fear they might bloom and fall on the ground near my neighbor?

Part of me knows why. I gave myself away, to David, his control. I thought that was love. To let him do what he liked. To be nice to him, not challenge his fragile ego. But I was misguided. He took more than he should. And then he left. And broke me, financially.

Mary the Strong no more. Is there still warmth in the ashes of what I was once?

Could that fire ever rage again?

Eloquently written and a nice touch to a story so sordid.

And you know what? While I didn’t think the twist was AS clever as I was hoping for, it was still interesting enough to keep engaged.

I want to hug him, but then I realize I don’t need to. He is getting nourishment from a deeper place than I can access.

We don’t speak for some time, until I eventually turn to him and ask if I can tell him something. He smiles and says sure.

And then I tell him what I did.

I tell him everything.

4 STARS!! Fun thrill ride, stupid, w/ a few stupid bone-headed decisions that threw me off a bit, but as a whole, a satisfying thriller with an ending I was happy with.

PSYCH-THRILLER!!

The Helper

PSYCH-THRILLER!! I ONE-CLICKED IT & DEVOURED IT!!

“...Mary Williams—faced with unexpectedly losing her job and the possibility of losing custody of her daughter as well—answers an unusual help wanted ad. When an ailing man offers her an outrageous proposal that could solve all her problems, Mary takes fate into her own hands and accepts, agreeing to the extraordinary thing this man is asking.

It’s a decision that changes everything. Because what Mary thought was true is in fact a lie, and now she faces a new reality that is far more disastrous than anything she could have imagined…”

Here’s my 4 STAR review: Book Review – The Helper by M. M. Dewil

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