Coburn, Jake. Love sick.

COBURN, Jake. Love sick. Penguin, Dutton. 288p. c2005. 0-525-47383-1. $16.99. S

The author, who also wrote Prep, a novel exposing "the hidden, fiendish world" of prep school gangs (reviewed in KLIATT in Sept. 2003), claims in the preface that Love Sick is a true story, but, of course, disclaimers are also made on the copyright page that the contents are fiction. Erica is 18, wealthy, restrained by an overprotective father, and seriously bulimic. Jake, also 18, is a recovering alcoholic who smashed up his knee and a full-ride sports scholarship in a drunken collision of car and tree. Erica's father hires Jake to spy on his daughter, supposedly 20 minutes work a week, at the enormously over-inflated price of all of Jake's college expenses for four years. Jake is placed in a dorm room near Erica's and sets to work. Wouldn't you know, though, that troubled Jake falls in love with troubled Erica and all of the dictatorial father's plans go awry when Jake finds his spine and decides true love is worth any cost? Erica, conveniently, has a million or so dollars of her own, which allows her to escape her father's clutches, get therapy, and enables both to finish college anywhere their whims take them.

The novel's real value lies not so much in its plotting but in its story of recovery for both Erica and Jake. It is certainly an advertisement for the 12-step program. Definitely for older adolescents because of excessive use of profanity; probably there in the interests of "realism," but may not be the limited lexicon of every young reader. Myrna Marler, Assoc. Prof. of English, BYU, Provo, UT

S--Recommended for senior high school students.