Charley's Web

by Joy Fielding

Charley Webb is a smart, beautiful single mother-of-two who left New York City in search of her own version of paradise in Palm Beach, Florida. She now writes a column for the Palm Beach Post, in which she shares her views on sex, shopping and the more entertaining goings-on in her neighbours' lives - much to their disgust. Charley knows she's not the most popular person in town - but then she receives a letter from a genuine fan. Jill Rohmer is a young woman serving time on death row for the murders of three small children - and she wants Charley to write her biography. For there are many hidden truths surrounding the murders Jill is now ready to reveal, including the existence of a mysterious man she calls Jack. But as Charley begins to delve into Jill's background, she starts receiving threatening, anonymous letters regarding her own children. Jill is safely locked away - so does this mean the elusive Jack is still out there somewhere? Charley finds herself in a desperate race against time to unlock the secrets behind the murders before her own family becomes the killer's next target.

• ISBN10: 184737042X
• ISBN13: 9781847370426
• Publish Date: 7 April 2008 (first published 1 March 2008)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 24 October 2008
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[Joni Reads]

I had never even heard of Joy Fielding until I was browsing my local library last week. I saw a whole row of novels by her and picked up one of the books and was immediately intrigued. I had a hard time figuring out which book to borrow but I chose Charley's Web because of the interesting and unique title.
I was quickly absorbed in this novel. I never wanted to put it down. Charley is such a likable character and and the words just flowed right off the page.
As Charley becomes more involved with interviewing Jill Rohmer, the Beastly Babysitter who is sitting on death row for murdering three children, the book started to truly come alive. I could picture the scenes like I was watching a crime drama, Jill on one side of the table and Charley on the other, each one trying to gain the upperhand in the interviews.
It soon becomes obvious that Jill did indeed have an accomplice in the murders of the children. She will only refer to him as "Jack". Jack and Jill. She thinks it's so clever and Charley is trying so hard to get Jill to divulge who her accomplice is. The answer will shock you as will the series of events leading up to Jack's unmasking.
Truthfully, I figured out who Jack was about half way through the book. It was a guess, a "wouldn't it be funny if soandso is the accomplice" and then it turned out I was right. It was not made obvious and I am sure that a ton of other readers of this novel have been thoroughly surprised with who he turns out to be. I just have a way with guessing who the bad guy is, probably because my tv watching is limited to Criminal Minds, Cold Case, Without A Trace, CSI, and Law and Order SVU.
In any case, I loved this book. Once I got to the end I couldn't put it down. I can't wait to read more from this author.

[ibeforem]

I thought this was a good read. Charley is very independent, and uses her independence to build up a wall that protects her from getting emotionally involved with other people, whether they be her neighbors, the mother who was gone for most of her life, her sisters, or even the fathers of her children. When she begins to dig into Jill Rohmer’s damaged world, cracks appear in her own wall. Despite the tweeness of the title of her newspaper column ("Webb Site", which the author tries painfully hard to make us believe is clever), I also enjoyed that side of Charley. Actually, I kinda wish she had spent more time in the office and less time driving around.

The plot builds well, and there are enough possible outcomes that when the twist occurs, you are surprised but find it believable. And then the second twist hits you and blows all of that out of the water. It’s hard to surprise me, but Fielding did it well. Charley’s Web is a little bit mystery, a little bit suspense, and a little bit family drama, and it all works quite well.