If I Can't Have You: A Compulsive, Darkly Funny Story of Heartbreak and Obsession

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As soon as Jennifer arrived at the house and told West Valley City Police Department Detective Ellis Maxwell of her conversation with Josh, he borrowed her phone and called Josh, and when Josh answered, Maxwell told him to come home. Josh said that he needed to stop and get his children something to eat first. EM: Explain to me how … what about your guys' relationship … what it consists of and stuff like that. The disappearance of Susan Powell was a case with which I was only vaguely familiar before reading Gregg Olsen and Rebecca Morris's book. This is despite the apparently prominent coverage it received. Maybe that's down to me (consciously or not) dismissing the story as an example of "missing white woman syndrome"; a sad story for sure, but not the kind that I'd follow with as much interest as that of a serial killer or someone like John List, a more well-known family annihilator than Josh Powell. Astonishingly, this is Charlotte Levin’s debut novel, except it is so brilliantly crafted you’d be forgiven for thinking it was her tenth! Indeed I was. Originally Levin’s novel was entitled An Explanation of Love - and stripped down to its barest bones, that’s just what it is - an explanation of what love is and what love isn’t. When the new doctor at the surgery where Constance works as a receptionist shows an interest in her, she thinks she is falling in love, except that what transpires between she and Samuel Stevens is anything but love.

Cons: ending was maybe a tad too controversial for me, too long, could be a bit slow in some places This is a debut novel?! Charlotte Levin's If I Can't Have You is an addictive and dark novel of obsession, love and betrayal. I wasn't sure at the beginning but the more I read the more I got lost in Constance's story. This is book that you need to read to believe. I gave a feeling that it will be a much talked about book this year. Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil. I implore you to read (or listen to) it. It's so many things - dark, sweet, odd, moving, credible, tender, beautifully written & at times funny' - Marian Keyes, author of Again, Rachel Jennifer went into the master bedroom. Despite the clutter, she noticed Susan's blue leather purse on a table by the foot of the bed. It contained her wallet, credit cards, and keys. There was no cell phone. The house was messy, but that was normal. There was no sign of forced entry or a robbery, home invasion, or struggle. Susan's red nylon snow boots, which she wore whenever she left the house, were in the living room.But the truth is much stranger than fiction; far darker and twisted than anyone could possibly imagine. Including Constance herself. The Deep Dark was named Idaho Book of the Year by the ILA and Starvation Heights was honored by Washington’s Secretary of State for the book’s contribution to Washington state history and culture. I don’t want to give any more of the plot away as the character development is so intriguing and well done that the less you know the better. And there are some great characters in this book; every one of them adds so much to the story. Thank you to Pigeonhole, Charlotte Levin and Pan McMillan for this free digital ARC, in exchange for my honest opinion! Ms. Aitken wrote a wonderful and amazing story that is not to be missed, Filled with magnetic attraction, sizzling chemistry, clever banter, and endearing characters supporting and cheering Charli and Symon on as they overcame their demons. I totally enjoyed and highly recommend If I Can't Have You to other readers and look forward to the next story in this series.

Josh Powell didn't know it, but he'd just nailed the trifecta, the traits of those who kill their spouses. It was so obvious. I would like to thank #CharlotteLevin, #Netgalley and #PanMacmillan for an ARC of #IfICantHaveYou in exchange for an honest review. WOW! It's been two days since I finished this book, and I am still feeling a huge book hangover. I love books centered around love and obsession and I just found my favorite one.

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I'm not able to grasp why these words left her mouth or why Lasseter thought it a good idea to include this. That sentence alone tells me she's not smart enough to tell me anything. I can't imagine how many women this will piss off. And this is a doctor that said this. She and Lasseter, IMO, slammed any and every woman and man who have ever been a victim of rape or attempted rape. My head spins when I think about this world I inhabit sometimes.

Levin’s prose is fierce and original - not once did my attention stray. It fairly bristles with anger - almost everyone in Constance’s life is subject to her cynical scrutiny, but this brings laughs too, especially when she regales us with details about her fellow receptionists and Linda and Alison.

Debbie Caldwell pulled up in her Ford Club Wagon—the one with fifteen seats to carry all the children who attended her day care—and observed how quiet her friend and neighbor Susan's house seemed. It was 9:00 A.M. on Monday, December 7, 2009, and West Valley City, a suburb of Salt Lake City, was in the middle of a three-day winter storm. Freezing temperatures and four inches of new snowfall made the roads so icy that the local news described the streets as "mayhem." One thing it does have in common with others of its purported genre is its readability. There is a creepy compulsiveness to the story, a sense from the start that things are going to go tits up. You just don’t know how and when. In this sense it shares something in common with Harriet Lane’s Alys Always which also features a woman insinuating herself into the lives of others. What makes this protagonist’s journey so seductive, however, is both its plausibility and its possibility. We might like to believe that Constance Little is none of us, but in reality she is all of us, for who can tell what lies around the corner of our lives, what particular synergy of experiences, or accidents of birth will presage the perfect storm towards tragedy? I really liked Constance and so many times I felt like reaching out to her. Bless her heart. The ending was satisfying though, and I can't give it any less than 5 stars. EM:… If you last seen her at midnight that's the last time you've seen her, um, nobody else has seen her or talked to her since, so she's basically been missing for about twenty hours. If I Can't Have You by Charlotte Levin is an all-consuming novel about loneliness, obsession and how far we go for the ones we love.