Can't Wait Wednesday (251)

Can't Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight highly anticipated books.  It is based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme which used to be hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

FROM GOODREADS:  The Secret History meets Call Me by Your Name in Micah Nemerever's compulsively readable debut novel—a feverishly taut Hitchcockian story about two college students, each with his own troubled past, whose escalating obsession with one another leads to an act of unspeakable violence.

When Paul and Julian meet as university freshmen in early 1970s Pittsburgh, they are immediately drawn to one another. A talented artist, Paul is sensitive and agonizingly insecure, incomprehensible to his working-class family, and desolate with grief over his father’s recent death.

Paul sees the wealthy, effortlessly charming Julian as his sole intellectual equal—an ally against the conventional world he finds so suffocating. He idolizes his friend for his magnetic confidence. But as charismatic as he can choose to be, Julian is also volatile and capriciously cruel. And admiration isn’t the same as trust.

As their friendship spirals into an all-consuming intimacy, Paul is desperate to protect their precarious bond, even as it becomes clear that pressures from the outside world are nothing compared with the brutality they are capable of inflicting on one another. Separation is out of the question. But as their orbit compresses and their grip on one another tightens, they are drawn to an act of irrevocable violence that will force the young men to confront a shattering truth at the core of their relationship.

Exquisitely plotted, unfolding with a propulsive ferocity, These Violent Delights is a novel of escalating dread and an excavation of the unsettling depths of human desire. 

WHY I CAN'T WAIT: I'll admit I'm not 100% sure about this one but am curious about the college setting.  Also, the guy on the cover reminds me of the actor who plays Clay on 13 Reasons Why on Netflix.  Is that a reason to feature it?  Well, today it is.  Does anyone agree?

CASSIUS'S PICK:

FROM GOODREADS:  From Dean Koontz, the international bestselling master of suspense, comes an epic thriller about a terrifying threat to humanity and the singular compassion it will take to defeat it.

Woody Bookman hasn’t spoken a word in his eleven years of life. Not when his father died in a freak accident. Not when his mother, Megan, tells him she loves him. For Megan, keeping her boy safe and happy is what matters. But Woody believes a monstrous evil was behind his father’s death and now threatens him and his mother. And he’s not alone in his thoughts. An ally unknown to him is listening.

A uniquely gifted dog with a heart as golden as his breed, Kipp is devoted beyond reason to people. When he hears the boy who communicates like he does, without speaking, Kipp knows he needs to find him before it’s too late.

Woody’s fearful suspicions are taking shape. A man driven by a malicious evil has set a depraved plan into motion. And he’s coming after Woody and his mother. The reasons are primal. His powers are growing. And he’s not alone. Only a force greater than evil can stop what’s coming next.

WHY CASSIUS CAN'T WAIT: So I know my Mom must really like this author.  How do I know?  Well, she's been cleaning her bookshelves and I distinctly remember her saying just last week "Apollo, you don't eat Dean Koontz books!"  Funny, I didn't think you ate ANY book.

Anyway, I love the idea that Kipp, who of course is nothing but a devoted companion, works to help find a boy who can communicate with him.  Don't know about you but I think my pick shoots Mom's all to pieces this week!

SO WHAT BOOK CAN'T YOU WAIT ON THIS WEEK???