Smooth Talker, Jesse Kellerman, Julie Sibony

Everything is going wrong in Joseph Geist's life. He's broke, his philosophy thesis has been stalled for ages, and his girlfriend just kicked him out. As he teeters on the brink of despair, an ad in a newspaper catches his eye: "Looking for someone for conversational hours." A dream job for Joseph! Talking is what he does best, and Alma Spielmann turns out to be the ideal employer: a refined, erudite, and generous old lady who even invites him to stay in her lavish home. The only fly in the ointment is Eric, her beloved nephew, a lost, enigmatic, and manipulative young man whom Joseph instantly takes a dislike to. However, he is far from suspecting the harmful consequences Eric's machinations will have on the rest of his life.
Translated from English (United States) by Julie Sibony
"A latent threat on every page, like in the best Hitchcock... a cunning, twisting thriller that catches you by surprise like a blade springing from the darkness." The Daily Mail