How Can I Help You

By: Laura Sims

Narrated by: Carlotta Brentan, Maggi-Meg Reed

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
The New York Times Book Review • Publishers Weekly • CrimeReads • Book Riot

A LibraryReads Pick

The lives of two librarians become dangerously intertwined in this razor-sharp exploration of human nature and the lure of artistic obsession.

No one knows Margo’s real name. Her colleagues and patrons at a small-town public library know only her middle-aged normalcy, congeniality, and charm. They have no reason to suspect that she is, in fact, a former nurse with a trail of premature deaths in her wake. She has turned a new page, so to speak, and the library is her sanctuary, a place to quell old urges.

That is, at least, until Patricia, a recent graduate and failed novelist, joins the library staff. Patricia quickly notices Margo’s subtly sinister edge, and watches her carefully. When a tragic incident in the library bathroom gives her a hint of Margo’s mysterious past, Patricia can’t resist digging deeper—even as her new fixation becomes all-consuming and sends both women hurtling toward disaster.

Chilling, incisive, and darkly humorous, How Can I Help You is a propulsive work of psychological suspense that asks how far we might go to justify our most monstrous desires.

Good story but underdeveloped characters

A good story but the characters needed more development IMHO, especially Margo. There wasn’t much background to help understand her psychology.

Such a fun surprisingly good book!

Loved it!!!! The narrators were excellent!!!!!
Loved how each of the 2 main characters unfolded!!!

Great Story, Mixed Narration Quality

This character-driven story is so well done it kept me on the edge of my seat, wondering what its two main characters would do next. Mostly set within a small-town library, the tale is told by two narrators. The “Margo” narrator does a tremendous job, voicing her character in a way that seems authentically sinister and disturbing. I found the other narrator to be not my taste, unfortunately; her delivery sounded somewhat robotic, and was choppy and flat at times. Still, I enjoyed this book immensely, including the end twist.

Not worth reading

Writing was shallow. Intended to be tense and thrilling, but falling well short. Would not recommend.

Well

I liked the concept of the two characters & the paranoia. But I personally didn’t get the ending.