How Can I Help You

De: Laura Sims

Narrado por: Carlotta Brentan, Maggi-Meg Reed

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

The New York Times Book Review • Publishers Weekly • CrimeReads • Book Riot

A LibraryReads Pick

The lives of two librarians become dangerously intertwined in this razor-sharp exploration of human nature and the lure of artistic obsession.

No one knows Margo’s real name. Her colleagues and patrons at a small-town public library know only her middle-aged normalcy, congeniality, and charm. They have no reason to suspect that she is, in fact, a former nurse with a trail of premature deaths in her wake. She has turned a new page, so to speak, and the library is her sanctuary, a place to quell old urges.

That is, at least, until Patricia, a recent graduate and failed novelist, joins the library staff. Patricia quickly notices Margo’s subtly sinister edge, and watches her carefully. When a tragic incident in the library bathroom gives her a hint of Margo’s mysterious past, Patricia can’t resist digging deeper—even as her new fixation becomes all-consuming and sends both women hurtling toward disaster.

Chilling, incisive, and darkly humorous, How Can I Help You is a propulsive work of psychological suspense that asks how far we might go to justify our most monstrous desires.

©2023 Laura Sims (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

A New York Times Book Review Best Thriller of the Year

A Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year

A CrimeReads Best Noir Fiction

A Book Riot Best Mysteries & Thrillers

A Publishers Weekly Book of the Week

One of BookRiot’s Most Anticipated Releases 2023

One of Town and Country’s Must-Read Books of Summer

One of The Millions’ Most Anticipated Books of 2023

One of CrimeReads' Best New Novels of July

One of CrimeReads' Best Psychological Thrillers of July

"Watching two diabolical women try to outsmart each other while maintaining their placid facades in the library where they work is only one of the many pleasures of Laura Sims’s deliciously unsettling How Can I Help You."—Sarah Lyall, The New York Times Book Review

"This cat-and-mouse suspense…generates Patricia Highsmith-style psychological fireworks. The narrative’s multiple reveals and shattering climax hit with maximum impact, delivering a deliciously dark monument to extremity that’s among the year’s most exhilarating."—Publishers Weekly

"Intense from page one, you’ll root for, abhor, and see yourself in these women as the story makes its way to a disturbing climax. It’s gently creepy.”—Scary Mommy

Good story but underdeveloped characters

A good story but the characters needed more development IMHO, especially Margo. There wasn’t much background to help understand her psychology.

Such a fun surprisingly good book!

Loved it!!!! The narrators were excellent!!!!!
Loved how each of the 2 main characters unfolded!!!

Great Story, Mixed Narration Quality

This character-driven story is so well done it kept me on the edge of my seat, wondering what its two main characters would do next. Mostly set within a small-town library, the tale is told by two narrators. The “Margo” narrator does a tremendous job, voicing her character in a way that seems authentically sinister and disturbing. I found the other narrator to be not my taste, unfortunately; her delivery sounded somewhat robotic, and was choppy and flat at times. Still, I enjoyed this book immensely, including the end twist.

If you like Annie Wilkes you will love this.

I loved it. Two of the most interesting female characters I have read in a long time

Not worth reading

Writing was shallow. Intended to be tense and thrilling, but falling well short. Would not recommend.

Well

I liked the concept of the two characters & the paranoia. But I personally didn’t get the ending.

Twisted

A very well written story. It was full of turns. Dark and twisting and I loved the way it was told from two points of view.

Creepy

I enjoyed listening to this book. It did make me cringe at times and not in a good way, but overall it held my attention, was different and engaging.

Poor Ending

I really got into the first chapter but as I progressed through the book lost interest. Chapters revolved around a coworker wondering about the main character, admiring her and thinking she should turn her in for killing people and the main character thinking about her love of killing people and taking baths. The ending was anticlimactic and unsatisfying.

Compelling read

This book never got boring. It was a compelling read all the way through with nuanced characters that had me hooked. The narration was wonderful, too.