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Daddy Love
Daddy Love
Daddy Love
Audiobook6 hours

Daddy Love

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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About this audiobook

Dinah Whitcomb seemingly has everything-a loving and successful husband, and a smart, precocious young son named Robbie-until one day, their worlds are shattered when Dinah is attacked and Robbie is abducted from a mall parking lot. As Dinah recovers from her wounds, she struggles to come to terms with her new reality and to keep her marriage afloat. Though it seems hopeless, she retains a flicker of hope that her son is still alive.#160;The kidnapper, a part-time preacher named Chester Cash, calls himself Daddy Love: he has abducted, tortured, and raped several young boys, indoctrinating them into becoming both his lover and his #8220;son.#8221; He renames Robbie #8220;Gideon,#8221; slowly brainwashing him into believing that he is Daddy Love#8217;s real son. Any time the boy resists or rebels, he faces punishment beyond his wildest nightmares.#160;As Robbie grows older, he begins to realize that the longer he stays in the home of this demon, the greater the chance that he#8217;ll end up like Daddy Love#8217;s other #8220;sons#8221; who were never heard from again. Somewhere within this tortured young boy lies a spark of rebellion, and soon he sees just what lengths he must go to in order to have any chance at survival.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 29, 2013
ISBN9781611749939
Daddy Love
Author

Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates, literary icon, is the author of more than 70 books, including the bestselling novels We Were the Mulvaneys and Blonde. Among her many honours are the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction and the National Book Award. Oates is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University, and has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978. Follow Joyce on @JoyceCarolOates

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Reviews for Daddy Love

Rating: 3.4294871076923075 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

78 ratings13 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I'm not, generally, a squeamish reader, but this 'unflinching' tale was a pretty tough read. When a sweet, much-loved five year old is abducted in a mall cap park, the parents spend six years in limbo. Meanwhile Robbie is held hostage by the menacing Chester Cash, aka 'Daddy Love' - a sometime preacher - who veers unpredictably from affection to fury...Joyce Carol Oates is a poweful writer. But I was glad to finish this.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I hated the way this ended.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I read another book written by Joyce Carol Oates and I absolutely hated it. Despite that, I thought I would give this novel a try. As it turns out, this was way worse than the other book I read from Oates. I absolutely hated every aspect of this novel. For starters, the writing style was so irritating, I couldn’t handle it. Whether in Dinah’s perspective or Daddy Love’s perspective, the narration grated on me to the point where I couldn’t take reading it for another second or I would have to find the closest window to jump out of it. The characters were awful and one-dimensional. They did not resemble real people. Also, the novel, although short in word count, is long-winded. The narration goes on and on and nothing happens. It’s as if Oates is writing words for the sake of writing words. I only made it about a third of the way through this novel, and I almost always finish novels that I start, no matter how bad they are. This is one of the worst I’ve read.Carl Alves – author of Blood Street
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I have read many books on the subject of child abuse and pedophilia and many of them were quite good. This one is not. What do you do if you have one hundred and fifty pages of content and you want to write a book over two hundred fifty pages long. First, you refer to the characters by name over and over again. Daddy Love must be in the text a thousand times. I read Mommie, Robbie and Gabriel so many times that I wanted to scream. It wasn't just names that were constantly repeated - many other aspects of the book were also.After spending 2/3 of the book with Daddy Love Oates drops him like a hot potato and goes back to lives of the missing boys parents who have been absent for five years. This is the literary equivalent of listening to fingernails scratching a chalk board..
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I almost abandoned this book about a little boy, Robbie, who is abducted and sexually tortured for six years. The early chapters were just too disturbing. Either I hardened my heart or I just got caught up in the suspense, but I’m glad I stuck it out. It’s a riveting portrayal of a despicable monster and it raises interesting questions about how trauma and abuse shapes a child. Note: to this reader, the first few chapters were excruciating. Describing the abduction of the boy outside a shopping mall, Oates repeats the same facts over and over from slightly different perspectives, and I lost patience quickly. Then as the story changes over to Robbie’s life with the predator, Oates abandons the technique of repetition and the pace of the book speeds up considerably.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Oates is obviously a very talented author, but just the couple of books I have listened to have not quite measured up for me. Although I can't say I loved this novel, I do have to admit that it did still captivate me in a way that had me eager to get back to my car and listen to it. I think Williams narration helped my appreciation of this book.The beginning of this book was very confusing for me. It seemed to repeat the opening scene continuously, maybe giving a different perspective or giving just a little bit more information each time. I think almost the entire first disc was spent repeating that scene and I started to wonder if that was going to be the entire book. Luckily, it wasn't, and once it moved on my annoyance passed quickly.When Robbie is kidnapped the book alternates perspectives between Robbie, Dinah, and even the kidnapper, Chester Cash. Sometimes I have problems keeping books like this straight, especially in the audio form, but that was not the case with this one. Williams did a great job of narrating the different parts and I was able to follow along easily. I think Oates did a great job of depicting the situation as we followed the boy and his kidnapper for years afterward. We a get a glimpse into Robbie's head as he yearns for a normal life, wanting to have friends and participate in school activities, rather than being hidden away. And on the flip side of the coin we see what life is like for the parents that are left behind with a huge whole in their lives.Although the book started out rocky for me, it did pick up allowing me to enjoy the story. Although the storyline is ripped from the headlines, Oates goes a bit further by relating the feelings of all involved. She really is a talented author and this makes me want to go get her latest novel. With themes of love, trust, and deceit, you may also enjoy this book. I do recommend this book for those that are interested in this type of storyline and also think it would make an interesting book club discussion.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    If this shockingly dark tale of depravity fails to make you cringe with every turn of the page, something is definitely wrong. Oates masterfully transports readers into what some reviews have aptly described as a "nightmare." There's no doubt that many readers will be repulsed by this riveting novel. It's clearly not for the squeamish. I agree with one reviewer who said this work reminded her of Emma Donoghue's "Room," another exceptionally good book. If you found "Daddy Love" riveting, check out Oates' "Zombie."
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    My heart broke reading this book. It's not a long book and very simplistic. The emotion within it's pages however is riveting. I wanted so badly to reach through the pages and give this young child all the love he was missing thru this horrible time in his life.This story is just one of many of hundreds of children and It brings me to my knees in grief that this stuff really happens.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The subject matter of this book is off putting. As mentioned not for the faint of heart. I have read works by Joyce Carol Oates that I loved, and some I couldn't get into, and some I hated. I found this book grabbed me from the first page and did not let go til the last. Actually still is not letting go. I forgot that the characters were not real and I worried that something would happen while I was gone, closing the book to do my real life stuff. Would Son be alright??????? All of that is the sign of a well written story. Granted this escape at times is not a pleasant one, but was what I read books for. Thank you for a great read.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I have had an awkward track record with work by Joyce Carol Oates, despite the acclaim she has received, and primarily I requested this novel in yet another effort to connect with her writing. Oates has published more than 50 books, many of which probe sensitive, dark subjects. In Daddy Love, Oates explores the shocking abduction and abuse of five year old Robbie Whitcomb by a sadistic pederast who keeps him captive for six years.The story of Daddy Love was no more than what I expected, confronting, disturbing and thought provoking. It is difficult to read of Diane’s despair at the loss of her son, her misplaced feelings of guilt and shame. It is horrendous to read of Daddy Love’s justifications for his deviant behaviour, his remorseless manipulation and abuse of young children and to know that such monsters walk amongst us undetected. It is utterly heartbreaking to imagine the fear, pain and sense of utter helplessness experienced by Robbie whose innocence is destroyed and will never be the same.And yet somehow Oates fails to move me, my reactions are dictated by the subject matter rather than the way in which she tells the story. I find her style spare and distant, even dry at times. Perhaps that is necessary in writing about such an emotive issue to reduce the risk that the reader will be overwhelmed by the sheer, shuddering horror of the situation but for me the result was a disconnect I am hard pressed to articulate.Even though Daddy Love left me with a painful ache in my chest, and desperate to keep my children a little closer to my side for a little longer, I think I will have to admit I am defeated by Joyce Carol Oates.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In the interest of full disclosure, I really had to work myself up to reading Daddy Love by Joyce Carol Oates. What finally tipped me over the edge into trying it was (definitely not the few reviews I read) the smaller size of the book.I've tried to read Joyce Carol Oates before. I failed at reading Blonde and, although I'd heard her writing is exquisite, I struggled with getting myself to a place where I could try again. So when I saw she had written a book that was less than 300 pages I thought... here we go, and picked it up. Then I put it down when I saw what it was about. Then I picked it up again because.. "never judge a book by its cover" right? You get the picture.So, contrary to what many reviews say, this book is not entirely from the perspective of "Daddy Love," nor does it gratuitously detail obscene and horrible acts committed. Rather, it's the story of desperation, resilience, depravity, and how all three of those things come together to show that sometimes the "happy ending" involves some not so happy results.Daddy Love is told from a few different viewpoints. The viewpoint of Dinah, the mother of young Robbie; the viewpoint of "Daddy Love," the man who abducts Robbie, the viewpoint of "Gideon," the young Robbie renamed. Dinah made me feel complete and total despair; Daddy Love made me feel like I needed to shower - repeatedly; Gideon made me weep. This book reminded me quite a bit of Emma Donaghue's Room. I had to guard myself emotionally a few times. Was it worth it? Honestly, I don't know how to say it was other than to say that everything is written for a purpose. With the horrors that happen today we struggle to figure out why someone would do the things they do and who better than the authors to give us a glimpse into the mind of just one person in order to allow us to understand how that person was molded.I was blown away by the quality of writing here. There's a reason Joyce Carol Oates has the place she holds in the literary world. Daddy Love was a thought-provoking, bone-chilling novel that I'll be thinking about in the days and months to come.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    In my opinion books needs to do at least one thing – entertain you, make you think, make you laugh, teach you something, take you out of your life for a few hours – in the end it should give you a feeling of satisfaction. This book just made me feel like I needed a shower - from the inside out. Robbie has been taken from a parking lot by a very, very bad man. You will soon find out in no uncertain terms just EXACTLY how bad this man is. Many years are going to pass in which this bad man has our Robbie/Gideon, brainwashed Robbie/Gideon, and abused Robbie/Gideon.Meanwhile Mom’s life is falling apart, yet we never really get the story from her. We just get bits and pieces of what it must be like in her shoes.Child abduction/sexual abuse is an important subject matter, don’t get me wrong – but the way Ms Oates handled it left me quite uncomfortable. Perhaps that is the good thing about this novel. Perhaps one shouldn’t be able to read about a subject like this without some trauma to the reader.You view the meat of this book mostly from Daddy Love’s perspective and it is a ‘dirty’ view, so be prepared. When you hear from the mother – especially the first section of the book –you may just get annoyed at the repetition of it all. You KNOW that everything is important to the reader but do you really need things repeated 3 or 4 times on a page or two?This is thankfully a very fast read coming in at about 250 pages or so – but while reading it, you might feel, as I did, that you have been reading for eons. I have ever read anything by this author before, but I have always heard what a wonderful writer Ms Oates is. An after reading this book, I must agree. Ms Oates has a way with words. Unfortunately, for me this may not have been the best book for me with which to start reading this author. This is one of the most uncomfortable subjects I have ever read about, but since it is an important one, I felt like I could trust Ms Oates to get me through it with my sanity intact. Ms Oates writing style with this book manages to drag you into the story kicking and screaming. You just know you have to finish the book, if only to see just how everything resolves.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Joyce Carol Oates has an astounding way of getting inside the heads of sexual predators and their victims. Hers is such a talent, in fact, that her darkest novels (and, with Oates, dark is a relative term because almost all of her novels can be called dark) are a challenge to a reader’s emotional sensitivities. And, the author’s latest, Daddy Love, in which a five-year-old is violently snatched from his mother in a shopping center parking lot, is even more disturbing than most.As Diane and Robbie walk through the mall parking lot, they play a game designed to teach the little boy to pay attention to his surroundings. His mother is subtly guiding Robbie back to their car while asking him to help by telling her which way to turn and whether they are going in the right direction. But the truth is that Diane is finding it difficult to remember exactly where she parked and, because she is so distracted by her own confusion, she never notices the man preparing to knock her down and steal away with her son. Later, despite having been severely injured during her stunned efforts to save her son, Diane finds that she will second-guess herself for the rest of her life.Their marriage will be so severely stressed by the loss of their only child that Diane and Whit Whitcomb will barely manage to stay together. Through it all, Diane, even though battling physical and emotional trauma that will scar her forever, refuses to believe that Robbie will not one day come home. Years later, she is still waiting for the magical phone call announcing that her son has been recovered from his abductor.Robbie’s kidnapper is Chester Cash, a serial child-abductor who insists that his victims call him Daddy Love. Cash, a part-time preacher and full-time ladies man, is brilliantly evil. He disguises his contempt for women so well that he easily manipulates a string of lonely and insecure ones to do his dirty work – from cleaning his pig sty of a house, to doing his laundry, to giving him their money – all the while, playing mind-games with his young victims that turn them into willing victims for years at a time. Cash’s usual routine of rape and torture, followed by rewards for pleasing him, works until Robbie begins to comprehend why Daddy Love’s earlier victims have all disappeared. He figures out that around age twelve, which Robbie is fast approaching, Cash will no longer find him sexually appealing. If he is going to survive, Robbie has to make his escape soon because he is running out of time.The most horrifying aspect of Daddy Love is the novel’s portrayal of the effectiveness of brainwashing suffered by young victims at the hands of sexual perverts. Robbie, because he becomes so dependent on Daddy Love for his physical and emotional wellbeing, never makes a break for freedom or cries for help despite having ample opportunity to do so. He simply cannot imagine a life without Daddy Love. Oates, by telling Daddy Love’s story from both his and Robbie’s viewpoints, shows how a child’s innocence is so easily and completely overwhelmed by an adult evil enough to want to do so.Not easy to read, and even harder to forget, Daddy Love is a reminder of the shadow world that threatens our children…a world parents cannot afford to ignore.Rated at: 4.0