Helpless: A Novel
Jul 2026 · Simon and Schuster
Ebook
320
Pages
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Eligible
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About this ebook
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER!
A BEST BOOK OF SUMMER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES, OPRAH DAILY, AND TOWN AND COUNTRY
From the New York Times bestselling author of Luckiest Girl Alive and Bright Young Women comes a "smart thriller" (The New York Times) full of shameless sex and page-turning twists about a woman kidnapped by the man who once knew her best—and the devastating secret that could destroy them both.
Faye Heron has an enviable life. Her work on an acclaimed television show built professional bridges and burned personal ones. Now, she’s one half of a power-producing duo with her Hollywood husband. Beautiful, rich, and successful, Faye has spent years believing her version of the past and using it as material for her writing.
Then, her former film professor passes away, and the funeral brings her back to her college campus and face to face with the man she she barely escaped.
Henry Spalding was Faye’s first love, whose presence still looms large in her mind. Their connection was obsessive, intoxicating, impossible to replicate. Because Henry is one of a kind.
The kind who delivers a hypnotic apology for the way things ended. The kind who suggests they go back to the hotel for a drink. The kind who drugs and kidnaps her.
When Faye wakes up bound and imprisoned in Henry’s isolated mountain cabin, she’s forced to confront a terrifying possibility: this may not be about revenge. As the days pass, Faye begins to chip away at the truth. What was the real cause of her professor’s death? And could it have something to do with why Henry has brought her here? Most jarring of all—what really happened all those years ago with Henry? Is it possible her version of the past cannot be trusted?
With every revelation, the walls close in. As Faye and Henry are pulled back into the toxic, magnetic bond that nearly destroyed them once before, a sprawling, years-old mystery begins to take shape, rewriting history as Faye remembers it and forcing her to reckon with her most complicated and thrilling desires.
A BEST BOOK OF SUMMER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES, OPRAH DAILY, AND TOWN AND COUNTRY
From the New York Times bestselling author of Luckiest Girl Alive and Bright Young Women comes a "smart thriller" (The New York Times) full of shameless sex and page-turning twists about a woman kidnapped by the man who once knew her best—and the devastating secret that could destroy them both.
Faye Heron has an enviable life. Her work on an acclaimed television show built professional bridges and burned personal ones. Now, she’s one half of a power-producing duo with her Hollywood husband. Beautiful, rich, and successful, Faye has spent years believing her version of the past and using it as material for her writing.
Then, her former film professor passes away, and the funeral brings her back to her college campus and face to face with the man she she barely escaped.
Henry Spalding was Faye’s first love, whose presence still looms large in her mind. Their connection was obsessive, intoxicating, impossible to replicate. Because Henry is one of a kind.
The kind who delivers a hypnotic apology for the way things ended. The kind who suggests they go back to the hotel for a drink. The kind who drugs and kidnaps her.
When Faye wakes up bound and imprisoned in Henry’s isolated mountain cabin, she’s forced to confront a terrifying possibility: this may not be about revenge. As the days pass, Faye begins to chip away at the truth. What was the real cause of her professor’s death? And could it have something to do with why Henry has brought her here? Most jarring of all—what really happened all those years ago with Henry? Is it possible her version of the past cannot be trusted?
With every revelation, the walls close in. As Faye and Henry are pulled back into the toxic, magnetic bond that nearly destroyed them once before, a sprawling, years-old mystery begins to take shape, rewriting history as Faye remembers it and forcing her to reckon with her most complicated and thrilling desires.
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER!
A BEST BOOK OF SUMMER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES, OPRAH DAILY, AND TOWN AND COUNTRY
From the New York Times bestselling author of Luckiest Girl Alive and Bright Young Women comes a "smart thriller" (The New York Times) full of shameless sex and page-turning twists about a wo...
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About the author
Jessica Knoll is the New York Times bestselling author of Bright Young Women, The Favorite Sister, and Luckiest Girl Alive—now a major motion picture from Netflix starring Mila Kunis. She has been a senior editor at Cosmopolitan and the articles editor at Self. She lives in New York City with her family.
Jessica Knoll is the New York Times bestselling author of Bright Young Women, The Favorite Sister, and Luckiest Girl Alive—now a major motion picture from Netflix starring Mila Kunis. She has been a senior editor at Cosmopolitan and the articles editor at Self. She lives in New York City with her...
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