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The Mentor
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The Mentor by
Sebastian Stuart

Bantam Books
256 pages, 1999
ISBN 0553111655
Reviewed by Nancy Mehl


Charles Davis was a literary sensation at the age of twenty-four. His first novel thrust him into the spotlight. Twenty-five years later, the light has dimmed and is threatening to go out altogether. While the peak of his fame wanes, the career of his beautiful wife, Anne Turner, is soaring. Charles’ self doubt and insecurities rage, seeking an outlet.

Enter Emma Bowles, a strange, waif-like creature, hired by Anne to help Charles with his clerical needs. But Charles’ needs extend far beyond paperwork. He finds in Emma the thing he can no longer find within, and he purposefully positions himself in a place of power and influence in her life. He is her mentor, her savior. Yet her salvation may become her destruction. Charles draws Emma deeply into his web of deceit and selfish desires, not knowing that Emma has her own demons - demons so strong they demand death. The question is - whose?

The Mentor looks deeply into the heart of a tortured man who must measure out the price of his own success. How high is the cost of fame and fortune? And how easy will it be for him to sell his own soul?

Sebastian Stuart has crafted a unique and powerful book that takes the reader on a roller coaster ride of emotions. Even though you think you know where the next turn might be, the novel suddenly twists and plunges you into the dark and frightening shadows of a man possessed with himself.


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