Book Review: The Girl in 6E

How can I begin to review a book as odd as The Girl in 6E? How do you discuss a book that is about a recluse who stays in her apartment (and hasn’t left for 3 years), because she’s afraid she’s going to murder someone? Oh, and did I mention she makes all of her money by being a cam-girl (a what? Oh, just someone who performs sexual activities via webcam).

I haven't touched a human in three years. That seems like it would be a difficult task, but it's not. Not anymore, thanks to the internet.

I am, quite possibly, the most popular recluse ever. Not many shut-ins have a 200-member fan club, a bank account in the seven-figure range, and hundreds of men lining up to pay for undivided attention. They get satisfaction, I get a distraction. Their secret desires are nothing compared to why I hide... my lust for blood, my love of death. Taking their money is easy. Keeping all these secrets... one is bound to escape.

What if you hid yourself away because all you could think of was killing? And what if one girl's life depending on you venturing into society?
Enter a world of lies, thrills, fears, and all desires, in this original thriller from A. R. Torre.

When you open this book you begin smack dab in the middle of a HOLY HELL EXPLICIT web cam scene that left me thinking, WHAT THE HECK AM I READING?! But at the end of the day, something this unusual is extremely successful at keeping your attention.

What worked:

• I’ve got to hand it to A.R. Torre, because the main character, Deanna Madden, being a camgirl held everything together in this book. You keep turning the pages because you’re either *omg-ing* about her camgirl life or about the creepy criminal (who interacts with her via webcam).
• The criminal in this book is a pedophile, but A.R. Torre makes pedophilia a line she won’t cross in this book. Torre  brilliantly leaves out every single detail about pedophilia (because let’s be honest: no one wants to read about that) while still hinting at enough to allow you to hate the criminal. So if this book sounded good to you until you read “pedophilia,” don’t let that deter you. You won’t have to read anything uncomfortable about it. Promise.
• The mystery/thriller aspect of this book is gripping. I was describing the plot to a friend, and she said it sounded very Dexter (I’m lame and haven’t seen it), so if you’re a fan of that TV show I suspect you’d enjoy this book as well.
• The relationship with the UPS deliveryman is great. I thought I knew where it was headed, but A.R. Torre surprised me and exceeded my expectations with it. It actually is the main reason I want to read the second book in the series now.

What didn’t work:

• Okay, you have to do some suspension of disbelief in this book to really bite into it. Someone living as a recluse because she’s afraid she’s going to murder someone? WTF? Also a great deal of plot is kind of absurd. View Spoiler »(Like when the UPS man walks into her apartment and there’s this weird sexual/murder tension and as the reader you’re just left wondering WTF is going on. Deanna why are you insane.) « Hide Spoiler But that being said, suspend your disbelief and you’ll be just fine.

At the end of the day I really liked this book. So long as you don’t mind some sexually explicit bizarreness and suspending disbelief for a while, you’ll probably enjoy it quite a bit, too.

Have you read this novel? What were your thoughts? Have you read the second one, Do Not Disturb?

A.S. Thornton

A.S. Thornton has evolved from book blogger to author with a particular fondness for writing forbidden love in ancient deserts. When not writing, she’s caring for dogs and cats as a veterinarian. You’ll never find animals at the center of her writing, though, because those fictional worlds don’t have veterinarians and her literal brain can’t accept that the poor critters would be without parasite prevention. Thornton’s debut, DAUGHTER OF THE SALT KING is available wherever books are sold.