Providence by Caroline Kepnes

There are some similarities between this book and the Twilight series - certainly not in writing style, since this is not a young adult book - but in that it's a love story where one person (Jon/Edward) deeply loves another (Chloe/Bella) but their love cannot be fully consummated because by being together physically, Jon/Edward could potentially kill Chloe/Bella because of their strong emotional feelings.

I was as puzzled by Roger Blair's letter to Jon as he was. In Roger's mind, what did he think would be the result of what he did to Jon in his medically-induced coma? What good could ever come from making sure that someone MUST live in complete isolation, with no ability to share his emotions or physical presence with another human being? We did good work down here, Jon. Did he want Jon to kill all the scumbags on earth? What about all of the innocent people he killed? Roger Blair was truly evil.

I had mixed emotions about Carrig. I wasn't sure if we were supposed to like him or hate him. Certainly when they were all in school, Carrig was an entitled jerk who was a bully. But Chloe seemed to really love him and Carrig seemed to really love her. Chloe had such a kind heart, it was hard not to give Carrig the benefit of the doubt - especially after Chloe got back together with him when they were adults. In all honesty, Carrig was pretty patient for quite awhile with Chloe's "pining after Jon". In the end though, he comes off as a horrible person, but I am not convinced that he deserved that label. I think he really loved Chloe, and he was deeply hurt that Chloe loved Jon more than him despite everything he had done for her.

I wasn't sure where Eggs was in all of this. He was hunting down Jon, but he also had the best understanding (eventually) of what Roger Blair did to Jon. I guess I thought he would be more sympathetic to his plight. In the end though, Jon was killing people and Eggs was a cop after all.

One of my favorite quotes from the novel: "Medicine is an approximate science. Loneliness is a specific monster. And love - love is just specific." I wouldn't call the ending a "happy ending". It's actually quite sad that two people like Chloe & Jon are leading their separate lives alone because of their love for each other. I was thrilled with Roger's death though! And I am glad that Eggs "caught" his serial killer, even though he didn't actually catch him. I didn't want him to lose his incredibly supportive wife!

Wendy's Rating: ****