No, James had not read the book despite Lotte's near constant insistence that she do so. Not only did she not have the time or patience for it, but James was still desperately trying to stay as distant from the story as possible.
"Well, that can't happen," she explained coolly. Nudging her iced coffee away from herself, James crossed one knee over the other and pinned the man across the table with serious, but sincere eyes. "She's terrified of him, Lotte and Christine. Lotte is not going to sacrifice herself to appease some madman," she waited a moment to assess whether or not he took offense at that before adding gently, "She has enough problems as it is.."