What would you do if you awakened to find a dangerous stranger in your house -- in your bed, next to you? In the psychological thriller Break Her, one woman will find herself in this almost unthinkable situation, and one man will discover that he has finally come up against someone unlike any of those he has destroyed before.
"The moment she woke up, her nightmare began..."
What would you do if you awakened to find a dangerous stranger in your house? In your bed, next to you? Now your home has become your prison, and your body, a battlefield. How would you hold onto your sanity, your self-esteem, your very soul against someone determined to annihilate all three?
In the psychological thriller Break Her, one woman will find herself in this almost unthinkable situation, and one man will discover that he has finally come up against someone unlike any of those he has destroyed before.
On the surface, this intruder has all the advantages: strength, weapons, ruthlessness. The only way he can lose is if he finds himself responding to his victim on a human level. The only way she can win is if she rips away the protective lies she’s told herself, the hard shell of indifference she’s hidden in, and becomes again what she has not been since she lost everything that mattered to her, years ago: human.
Warning: This book is for readers over the age of 18 only.
Excerpt
It was almost funny. For that first moment upon awakening, for just that first fraction of a second, she’d thought it was her husband, she’d thought for one fleeting instant of pure joy, that everything was finally all right. Of course, she knew immediately after that it wasn’t. But for
those first, vital few minutes, she let her mind burrow, like a chilly toddler under a mountain of blankets, back inside that fantasy. It was what she needed to do. But it was also what she wanted to do. To believe. Before she had to stop. Before she had to really wake up.
But the longing that she’d given in to, that she had used to confound him, to flip his plans upside down, was like
having the white pieces, the first move in a chess game. A tiny advantage, easily lost, like her ability to pretend that this wasn’t happening, to find very temporary respite in a dream. How
unlike her, really, to have any of those left.
The next thing she felt was rage. Sheer, mind-numbing rage. Well, that was interesting. She hadn’t felt anything like that, or really anything at all in such a long, long time. Nonetheless, she
cut it off, she cut it off almost immediately, before it could destroy any chance she might have to get out of this in one piece. Anyone who’s had a small child knows how to do that. It wasn’t long before the bitter, caustic self she knew so well re-emerged, ready, as always, to do pointless battle. All she was left with was the determination that she was going to come out of this alive...
The decision having been made, it became all about how. And how meant doing the opposite of everything he expected her to do. Everything he was prepared to handle. Without throwing him off his stride so much that he just killed her outright even at the loss of his own anticipated fun...
She would out-think him and out-emote him. She would use everything.
Everything that was left. And she would beat him. And he would be the one to die.
Because whatever he said, she knew the truth. One of them had to.
Professional Reviews
Five Stars. A masterpiece. A benchmark for psychological horror., December 17, 2012
Every once in a rare while, a book comes along that succeeds in all departments--characterization, narration, ideology, execution. One that's so skillfully woven, the end effect is an unforgettable and powerful experience.
This is that rare book.
If anyone can create tolerance for a terrifyingly brutal rapist, B.G. Harlen can. Sweet mother, this is an exquisitely wretched story, one that is worth reading more for its thought-provoking journey than its final destination. It is certainly no fast-paced thriller. Rather, its a slow-burn analytical look at depravity personified and the strength of the human mind through the viewpoints of two characters: Him and Her. No names. No sense of time or location. Just the villain, the heroine, and their soul-shredding exploration of each other. The blend of her detachment and his confidence results in a psychological battle of confounding depth.
How do you break a person? Do you take away hope? What if she's never experienced hope in her life?
If you want to be titillated and repulsed on a corrosively erotic level, this will knock you out of the park. Reading it, you will feel stimulated, horrified, and eventually, purged.
Resist the urge to pass this up because it's too dark. This mind-blowing rabbit hole is worth it.
Pam Godwin, Goodreads
Five Stars. I'm not sure "loved it" is accurate., November 19, 2012
I did not love this book because love is not the right word. I became obsessed with this story and was unable to put it down until I completed it. I won't repeat what others have said about this novel. I just want you to know that you should take the chance with this novel if you love psychological thrillers, if you like some dark erotica every now and then, if you want to read something that takes you through despair, hopelessness, emotional pain and brings you to the other side if you can hang on till the end.
I was blown away.
Rad Ryder, Amazon
Five Stars. I'm an emotional wreck from this savage and brutal story., November 7, 2012
Warning: This is not a romance, nor does it have any romantic or erotic tendencies. This is a mind bending psychological thriller that contains malevolent and inhuman behaviors. With that said, WOW!! I haven't been mind-screwed like this since....EVER. I didn't fall in love with this anti-hero. Far from it. There is no Stockholm Syndrome in this book. I really debated with myself on whether to read this one or not. I admit it. I was scared. I'm still scared! Just a few pages in and I was like WTH?! I can't read this! But, I trudged onward....to my next Holy *bleep*!! I can't read this! And I kept on reading, but I sped up my reading pace to just get through it. I didn't want to linger in it, because it was so dark and scary. Not dim....DARK! Did I mention scary? This one is one of those sleep with a night light and a chef's knife under your pillow kind of scary!
If you've followed me for a while, you know I love a good dark book every now and again, but OMG! At what point did I become a masochist? This book is not just dark...it is THE DARKEST. It is definitely not for the faint at heart. This book is not for everyone.
He is the professional...the destroyer...the professional rape artist. He is a man hired to seek and destroy another human being...to obliterate a person's very soul. But he didn't limit his hired services to destroy only women. Men were also his victims. He was an equal-opportunity rapist and annihilator. His target for this game? Her. These are the only two characters in this story, and the entire story is focused on the two nameless characters. There are no descriptors. There is no back story. There is no preparation for the brutality to be witnessed in this book. The story opens with her being unconscious and him deep inside her, waiting for her to wake so that he can begin his soul destruction....via rape and degradation.
"'I stand outside myself, watching myself watching myself. I smile. I smile. I smile.' If you just substituted scream for smile, it was dead on."
What he didn't count on is her strength, her hope, and her will to not be broken. He had never come across a target like her before. She knew his game and would play her own in defense, but she also knew that in order to win, she might have to lose. I don't normally give longer quotes in a review, but this book really made me think. How would I view repeated rape? Would I crumble? Would I summon every bit of strength I had for survival?
"It had to be different for everyone. Rape was horrible, but not every woman could consider it the most horrible thing that could happen. There were so many things that could happen that were potentially even worse."
...
He is so confident and calm in his dialogue, making his character even more terrifying. She studied him and found what made him calm and what made him angry....and when he became angry, it was as quick as someone flipping a switch. I never saw it coming, and her punishment was shameless and humiliating. But, the most terrifying this man became was when he simply said one word..."Checkmate." My heart stopped.
There were so many strange scenes in this story. Scenes when they talk of movie quotes and t.v. shows, relating them to the events that are happening. Perhaps this was part of the mind-screw effect on the reader? It's almost as though the casualness of the abstract conversations relating to such a serious and ugly situation made the story even more terrifying. I kept reading...and hoping...and reading, but any reprieve from the terror never came. There are so many twists and mind benders in this book, I couldn't help but continue reading. The biggest shock came to me toward the end of the book, but I am...well, I don't know what word to use here, so I will settle with pleased...in how the story ended. As I mentioned, this book will make you think. What is rape really? Is rape the most horrifying thing a woman can face? Is it worse than death? Is penetration of the body so much worse than penetration of the mind or spirit? How can something so beautiful and used to show love by some be used as such a destructive weapon by others?
So, why did I give this book such a high rating as 5 stars? I do not rate a book based on content, but on how it made me feel...the emotions it gave me - or took from me in this case. This book drained me emotionally and twisted my mind and view of the world. The author presented me, the reader, with a gift of brilliance in the form of writing, even though the content was horrific and savage. Take caution before reading. You are entering the darkest zone you can possibly enter, and I dare say that this book will not leave me for a long while.
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