The Provider

The Provider is a fictional account of the world of online escorts.

But overarching it all is the poignant story of failed love and longing.

The main characters are Greg, a middle-aged single man, and Rachel, a 21-year-old escort. Greg is disabled by severe diabetes; thus, it has been hard for him to establish “normal” relationships with women. So for many years, he has been availing himself of the services of call girls.

But something mysterious is going on underneath it all—Rachel is obviously holding some dark secret, and Greg decides to sleuth it out.

The ending of the book is a shocker, so I’ll let it remain a secret for now.

This novel is complex, well written and very gripping. There are many themes running through it: Greg’s illness and the impact that physical disability has on a man’s ability to function in the “real world,” the other women that Greg and Rachel know and play with, and a charming dog named “Spenser,” who ends up being an important character in the book.

There is also deep examination of Rachel’s pathology, involving a clinical psychologist friend of Greg’s, whom he consults when his interactions with Rachel become too baffling.

The pivotal event in the novel comes when Rachel declares to Greg, after just a few meetings, that she loves him and she begins talking about all the things that they can do together as a couple in the future. Greg, being ill and vulnerable, believes that she really means it and becomes obsessed with her.