KEY POINTS:
Helpless is not one for the faint-hearted. The idea of a little girl abducted by a potential paedophile is about as palatable as the storyline of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, but without the same light tone. However, Gowdy uses the suspended period of crisis as a chance to develop her characters.
There is the solo mother Celia, who works nights to support herself and her nine-year-old daughter Rachel, and makes up the identity of the child's father to keep her happy.
There is Ron, the potentially dangerous middle-aged man, standing on the precipice as soon as he "falls in love" with Rachel, and Nancy, the hapless waitress, who just appreciates a kind boyfriend and will do anything to keep him.
One of the most intriguing parts of the story is Rachel's acceptance of her position and growing fondness for Ron. Exquisitely painful to read.
*Little Brown, $35.99
- Detours, HoS
