Richard
Chapman hosts a bachelor party for his younger brother Philip. The entertainment for the evening, provided
by one of Philip’s friends, turns out to be two young prostitutes, Sonja and
Alexandra, who arrive with their bodyguards.
An orgy ensues, and the evening ends with the bodyguards being killed by
the young women before they flee. The
novel then focuses on the aftermath of the party. Richard, who almost had sex with Alexandra,
has to deal with the impact of his decisions on his marriage and family and
job.
The
narrative is split between Richard (and the consequences he faces because of
what happened at the party) and Alexandra (and the chronicle of her sex
enslavement). It is Alexandra’s story,
narrated in the first person, which is most intriguing. Her experiences serve as an exposé of human trafficking. In
comparison, Richard’s plight arouses much less sympathy. Though he does not escape unscathed by any
means, he has the resources, financial and otherwise, to help him mitigate the
worst consequences of his stupidity.
It is this
stupidity that is Richard’s outstanding trait.
Knowing his brother, he still agrees to host Philip’s bachelor
party? A man with a wife and a
9-year-old daughter is fine with strippers being in his family home? Then he proceeds to behave like Philip and
his friends instead of being a responsible host concerned about his house and
the welfare of his guests? His lapses in
judgement are just too many to be credible.
Then he continues to have lustful thoughts about her even after learning
she could be underage? Of course, the
reader is to believe that eventually he begins to recognize his role in
Alexandra’s victimization, but his change is not convincing. And don’t get me started on his behaviour at
the climax: “not caring. Not caring at all. So be it.”
The climax seems contrived to have Richard wearing a superhero cape.
There are
other things that are incredible in the book.
Kristen, Richard’s wife, agrees to have her brother-in-law’s party in
her home, even presuming that at least one stripper will be present? Considering her doubts about the nature of
her husband’s intimate encounter with Alexandra, is her behaviour at the end
plausible? Certainly, some anger towards
Alexandra and Richard’s choices and actions at the end would be
appropriate. Alexandra is very wary and
thinks she sees a black Escalade following her but she “didn’t think
cue-ball-head babies would be so smart”?!
Alexandra, despite having no formal education in English, speaks the
language so well, almost too well, yet inconsistently drops definite articles? A lawyer would actually advise a client to
pay a blackmail demand?
There are
some writers who like to choose a controversial issue and make it a central
topic in his/her books. Jodi Picoult is
one who comes to mind. This novel
strikes me as being in the same vein; it uses human trafficking/sex slavery to
draw in potential readers. Bohjalian
undoubtedly did research on the subject and informs the reader about sexual
exploitation, but he seems to have paid less attention to character development
and the fine points of good-quality fiction writing.
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