A.J. Rich

Creepy! Also a bit implausible and somewhat frustrating. Morgan Prager is writing her master's thesis in forensic psychology about the profile of violent crime victims and a potential symbiotic relationship with their predators. Then she becomes one. She returns home from work one day to find that her fiance Bennett has been mauled to death by her three shelter-rescue dogs (2 of whom are pit-bulls). Then she finds out that Bennett was not at all who he said he was. He had given her a false name and identity and had also tricked several other women in the same way and essentially collected all these women and strung them along, promising marriage. Given that Morgan met him online when he answered a research query for her thesis, you would think she might've seen this coming. Also, she hooks up with several other men in the course of the story in dangerous situations -- bars, pool halls and seems to invite the behavior she is intending to study. One stable force in her life is her brother Steven, a lawyer for a non-profit who connects her to Laurence McKenzie, an animal rights' attorney. With Bennett's identity in question, Morgan now questions if her dogs were the perpetrators or if at the very least they were provoked by Bennett who never liked them to begin with. Two of the 3 are still alive and in custody as evidence. When visiting the animal shelter, Morgan meets a woman named Billie who is kind to her and her dogs and becomes a companion and a convenient advocate of the whole investigation. As things progress it is clear that Bennett (aka Jimmy Gordon) was not the victim but Morgan is and is still in danger. You can probably guess 2 trajectories without any more info or spoilers. Hard to swallow on lots of levels.… (more)

The Hand That Feeds You
by A.J. Rich
2015
Simon & Schuster
3.0 / 5.0

The plot of this novel sounded interesting and intriguing, however, I found it hard to feel involved or invested in any of the characters, and the ending was predictable. The best parts, for me, were the ones concentrating on the morality of a dog killing a person.....whom is responsible...should the dog be quarantined or sheltered....should the dog be killed?
The story evoles around Morgan, completing her thesis on victim psychology, and has just become engaged to Bennett. Morgan returns from classes one afternoon, to find Bennett mauled to death by her dog.
Morgan attempts to contact Bennetts family, only to find out everything he has told her....where he was born, where he previously lived, where he worked....was all a lie.
Bennett has several other fiancees, who all believed his story of his past and promises for the future. One by one, these woman are being killed.

Beyond the parts about the dog, this was poorly executed, hard to feel invested in and, just not written well.… (more)