If I Can't Have You: A Compulsive, Darkly Funny Story of Heartbreak and Obsession

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If I Can't Have You” by Charlotte Levin is an all-consuming novel about loneliness, obsession and how far we go for the ones we love. Indeed I was. Originally Levin’s novel was entitled An Explanation of Love - and stripped down to its barest bones, that’s just what it is - an explanation of what love is and what love isn’t. When the new doctor at the surgery where Constance works as a receptionist shows an interest in her, she thinks she is falling in love, except that what transpires between she and Samuel Stevens is anything but love. At first there was a sense of relief: Josh and Susan and the boys were not dead in their beds. But something was wrong. Why the local police detectives weren't all over him like bees on honey from the get-go should be a dereliction of duty. This book has two major flaws. First, there's just not enough material to make this book of this length interesting. We all know that poor Susan Powell is dead and we all know it was because of her husband, Josh, and an undetermined number of his creepy family members. But because Susan's body has never been found, her husband can never be brought to justice by a trial, and none of the remaining Powells are talking, there's not really too much to write about.

JoVonna was frustrated. "No, she's not at work. We're really worried, Josh. You didn't go to work."

Kiirsi then phoned the Relief Society president—the head of their ward's women's group—and the two of them joined Jennifer at the Powell house and talked to the police.

If you enjoy true crime novels and have heard about this case, I recommend giving this book a try. While I wish there were more answers in terms of what happened to Susan Powell, I think her story SHOULD be told to help prevent things like this happening in the future. Essentially this is a tale about damaged people interacting with one another. From the opening line The award-winning author has been a guest on dozens of national and local television shows, including educational programs for the History Channel, Learning Channel, and Discovery Channel. He has also appeared on Good Morning America, The Early Show, The Today Show, FOX News; CNN, Anderson Cooper 360, MSNBC, Entertainment Tonight, CBS 48 Hours, Oxygen’s Snapped, Court TV’s Crier Live, Inside Edition, Extra, Access Hollywood, and A&E’s Biography. Jennifer went into the master bedroom. Despite the clutter, she noticed Susan's blue leather purse on a table by the foot of the bed. It contained her wallet, credit cards, and keys. There was no cell phone. The house was messy, but that was normal. There was no sign of forced entry or a robbery, home invasion, or struggle. Susan's red nylon snow boots, which she wore whenever she left the house, were in the living room.

To those readers who come for a psychological thriller I say stay with this book, and it will repay you in far greater riches. To those who overlook it as not sounding quite serious enough, I urge you just to come. A rare five stars from me. Upstairs in thirty-year-old Johnny Powell's bedroom, a carefully coiled rope noose hung on the wall along with disturbing renderings of a woman with a knife running through her vagina and exiting her stomach. Johnny, whom his father and sister Alina considered an artist, had a history of mental troubles. One thing that really disturbed me is the speculation about Namey's tattoo. I really got the impression that anyone with a tattoo would be a suspected gang member in Lasseter's eyes. Please don't get me wrong, he doesn't like tattoos? No problem. I like them. But my having a butterfly above my daughters name doesn't make me a gang member. I took issue with how this was talked about. This is a book that touched so many different emotions in me. One minute I detested Constance, the next I loved her. I’ve winced, gasped, laughed and cried throughout the reading of this book. It’s definitely one of my favourites of 2020 and I can tell you that Charlotte Levin is certainly someone to look out for.

It works to set the record straight and refute the shameful and disgraceful lies that the Powell family tried to perpetuate for so long. And, therefore, Josh Powell didn't know it, but he'd just nailed the trifecta, the traits of those who kill their spouses. It was so obvious. If I Can’t Have You is a stunning début novel by new author Charlotte Levin. There was such a lot to love about this smart and compelling story. Why have I bothered this time ? Because the verdicts not just given out of sequence, it’s put into the ‘about this book’ blurb ! So I now know what happened before I even read the first sentence ! I mean c’mon ! Something did come, however, a little later that evening in the form of a phone call. It made her heart beat faster, her stomach turn somersaults.West Valley City police issued a statewide attempt-to-locate bulletin so that law enforcement in other jurisdictions would be on the lookout for the Powells' 2005 light blue Chrysler Town & Country minivan. The police sent Jennifer home so they could search the house. This is a well-written account of the Susan Powell disappearance and subsequent murder of her children that played out locally in Utah a few years ago. There are not a lot of good guys in it. The evil and perversion of a family, the slow movement of the police, and the helplessness of everybody else makes this a difficult book.