Calling Mr Lonely Hearts
Roxanne, Del, and Alice have been friends since childhood, with Roxanne taking the dominant role. Roxanne is a force to be reckoned with-whatever she wants, Del and Alice will go along with, however reluctantly, from the usual teenage misbehaviours to witchcraft ceremonies in the park. When the girls are 13, she convinces them to back up a ruinous story about one of the priests at their Catholic school. Defrocked and furious, the priest disappears, and they keep it a secret between themselves. Years later each meets a mysterious man named Varick, and within moments of their meeting, Roxanne's, Del's, and Alice's lives begin to unravel. None of them know what he wants from them but they can't help giving it to him. Why is Varick here, and most importantly-who is he? Don't let the title fool you: though it sounds like a Cary Grant film, Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts is extremely scary. Benedict has written a very suspenseful, tense, and sinister second novel.
Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.
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What the reading experience may hold
A fuller profile for choosing with more confidence—not just another copy of the preview.
Fiction
Use these as starting points rather than limits; the most memorable books often stretch beyond their catalog labels.
No specific content concerns can be confirmed from the available English catalog information. Consult a publisher or reader-supplied guide when detailed warnings matter.
These notes are inferred from available catalog information and may not be complete. Check a publisher or reader-supplied guide if you need comprehensive warnings.
Balanced tone · Urgent pace
A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.
A good fit if…
Readers who want a thoughtful experience and enjoy noticing the connections beneath a book’s surface story.
This book's DNA
A visual estimate based on this edition's categories, description, and length. Select a star to explore the signals.
This signal is descriptive, not a rating. It helps compare the kind of reading experience this edition may offer.
Spoiler-Free Emotional Arc
A broad estimate of the book’s emotional rhythm, shown without story events or outcomes.
This visualization is an interpretive estimate based on catalog description, categories, tone, pace, and content signals. It does not describe specific scenes.
A quick reading snapshot
Edition facts and catalog signals to help you decide whether this book fits what you want to read next.
- ISBN-13
- 978-0-4340-1703-4
- Language
- English
- Edition record
- OL32667010M
A more thoughtful way into this book
This guide uses the edition details and category signals above to help you choose deliberately. It does not replace the author's work or a full review.
A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.
Begin with its place in Fiction, then notice where the book resists that label.
Read for connection, not completion.
Mark one passage that sharpens the book's central concern and one that complicates it. That tension often reveals more than a quick summary.
Three questions to carry with you
- What does the central character want, and what do they misunderstand about that desire?
- Which detail or relationship changes how you interpret the story?
- What feeling or question does the book leave with you after the plot moves on?
Editorial framework by Wesley Bryan, BookenDeX Founder and Editor.
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