The Turn of a Key is the latest novel by popular Psychological Suspense author Ruth Ware. This new offering is an ambiguous one. The novel has jarring narration and plot twists which may leave many readers uncertain, depending on how they interpret the final pages.
The opening story setup is promising. Rowan Caine takes what seems a cushy, high paying job as a family nanny in a remote manor house in the Scottish Highlands. But troubles for Rowan begin almost immediately. The parents must leave on a work assignment in Europe. The three small children left with Rowan are an unruly handful. Then there's the house itself, which seems to have a sinister presence about it.
There are faint echoes of the Henry James classic The Turn of the Screw. The children whisper vaguely about ghosts somewhere. The novel works overtime to build Gothic creepiness, from phantom footsteps in the night to an ominous locked door.
The structure of the novel has the story narrated by Rowan in letters to an attorney as she is being held in jail after a death in the house. But the plot takes a wrenching turn in the last third when vital new information is suddenly given to the reader that has been withheld from the beginning. Talk about an unreliable narrator! Things turn even more upside down at the conclusion when more new revelations make the reader question the validity of the entire prior narrative.
The Turn of a Key is a psychological enigma which offers one direct answer at the end. But is it the right answer?
Showing posts with label psychological. Show all posts
Showing posts with label psychological. Show all posts
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Saturday, July 27, 2019
KNIFE by Jo Nesbo a New Norwegian Crime Thriller
Knife by Norwegian author Jo Nesbo is the latest crime novel in the series that features obsessive Oslo police detective Harry Hole (pronounced Hoo-leh). Harry is a police legend for his past hunting down of fiendish serial killers, portrayed in previous Nesbo novels such as The Snowman and The Leopard.
A new case is devastating for Harry when someone personally close to him is brutally murdered. At first, it appears that a recently released convict Harry arrested a decade earlier is behind the murder in revenge against Hole. But then new suspects emerge with their own twisted motivations. Even though Harry is suspended from working on the murder case because of his connection with the victim, he is driven to pursue the killer on his own.
Knife is a heavy read at 450 pages that sometimes bogs down in too much involvement with Harry's own complex psychological obsessions. That said, Jo Nesbo fans will enjoy seeing iconic character Harry Hole on the case again.
Friday, November 23, 2018
WITCH ELM a Tale of Twisted Fate and Murder
The Witch Elm by Irish Author Tana French is a crime novel in which fate and coincidence play twisted roles in the course of fatal events. The story deals with the question of what motivates a person to murder as much as the details of the actual murder itself.
Toby Hennessey is a young man living a normal, content life when two random events suddenly wrench that life into crisis. First, he is the victim of a home break-in and brutal beating that leaves him coping with a serious head injury. Then, while visiting his old family country home, The Ivy House, a human skeleton is found inside a huge elm tree on the property. A police investigation finds the skeleton belongs to a murder victim from years earlier. When the victim is identified, he was a friend who hung around with Toby and his family members at one time.
As the police press continued questions, Toby's damaged memory struggles to recall the past. Is it possible he could have been involved in the murder? Or perhaps his cousins or his uncle? The more Toby tries to answer these awful questions, the worse his mental condition becomes.
The Witch Elm is an engrossing psychological crime novel that builds slowly to a disturbing revelation. The one quibble with the book is it's overwritten length at five hundred pages. Dialogue scenes go on in talky circles far too long. At a hundred pages shorter, the novel could have been even more unsettling.
Toby Hennessey is a young man living a normal, content life when two random events suddenly wrench that life into crisis. First, he is the victim of a home break-in and brutal beating that leaves him coping with a serious head injury. Then, while visiting his old family country home, The Ivy House, a human skeleton is found inside a huge elm tree on the property. A police investigation finds the skeleton belongs to a murder victim from years earlier. When the victim is identified, he was a friend who hung around with Toby and his family members at one time.
As the police press continued questions, Toby's damaged memory struggles to recall the past. Is it possible he could have been involved in the murder? Or perhaps his cousins or his uncle? The more Toby tries to answer these awful questions, the worse his mental condition becomes.
The Witch Elm is an engrossing psychological crime novel that builds slowly to a disturbing revelation. The one quibble with the book is it's overwritten length at five hundred pages. Dialogue scenes go on in talky circles far too long. At a hundred pages shorter, the novel could have been even more unsettling.
Sunday, August 5, 2018
Heat and Murder in Australia in THE DRY
The Dry by Jane Harper is set in the barren Outback of Australia, where a small town is suffering from an endless drought and reeling from a horrific local crime.
Three members of the Hadler family are found dead in an apparent murder-suicide at their farm. It looks like the father, Luke Hadler, killed his wife and small son, then killed himself. The farm was nearly bankrupt, maybe Luke Hadler just snapped one day. At least, that's what it looks like on the surface.
Federal Agent Aaron Falk grew up in that town and he attends the funerals. He's an unwanted exile there after the suspicious death of a young girl Falk knew twenty years earlier, when he himself was teenager. Some locals blamed Falk for the girl's death then and still nurse ugly feelings toward him.
Falk can't wait to leave, but he gets drawn into the Hadler case. Luke Hadler was a close friend once. Falk can't believe he would kill his own family that way. As Falk joins the local police investigation, new evidence that doesn't fit begins to show up. But if it turns out that Luke Hadler wasn't the killer, it means one chilling thing: someone else in the town is the murderer.
The Dry is a compelling read, set under the unforgiving heat of a parched landscape, where the unending dryness has driven someone mad enough to commit a monstrous crime.
Three members of the Hadler family are found dead in an apparent murder-suicide at their farm. It looks like the father, Luke Hadler, killed his wife and small son, then killed himself. The farm was nearly bankrupt, maybe Luke Hadler just snapped one day. At least, that's what it looks like on the surface.
Federal Agent Aaron Falk grew up in that town and he attends the funerals. He's an unwanted exile there after the suspicious death of a young girl Falk knew twenty years earlier, when he himself was teenager. Some locals blamed Falk for the girl's death then and still nurse ugly feelings toward him.
Falk can't wait to leave, but he gets drawn into the Hadler case. Luke Hadler was a close friend once. Falk can't believe he would kill his own family that way. As Falk joins the local police investigation, new evidence that doesn't fit begins to show up. But if it turns out that Luke Hadler wasn't the killer, it means one chilling thing: someone else in the town is the murderer.
The Dry is a compelling read, set under the unforgiving heat of a parched landscape, where the unending dryness has driven someone mad enough to commit a monstrous crime.
Saturday, June 9, 2018
Ruth Ware is Back With THE DEATH OF MRS. WESTAWAY
The Death of Mrs. Westaway is a new psychological mystery by Ruth Ware, author of previous best sellers In a Dark, Dark Wood and The Woman in Cabin Ten.
The main character of the new novel is Harriet Westaway, nicknamed Hal, a young woman who ekes out a living as a Tarot reader on the Brighton Pier. Hal gets a surprising letter naming her as an heir of a deceased grandmother. But Hal immediately realizes it's a mistake, the dead woman was not her grandmother. Yet Hal is in debt and desperate, so she makes a risky decision to try to claim whatever the inheritance is.
She travels to Cornwall to the Westaway family estate of Trepassen. There she meets the brothers Harding, Able, and Ezra, along with the aged and hostile housekeeper Mrs. Warren. Hal must pass herself off as the daughter of a sister, Maud Westaway, who went missing years earlier. Hal's appearance as an unknown heir is a shock to the suspicious family members.
As Hal continues her deception, she learns more and more about Westaway family secrets long buried. But someone doesn't want those secrets exposed and Hal finds she has stepped into a dangerous trap.
The Death of Mrs. Westaway is not Ruth Ware's best work. The novel is a slow-tempo read, with far too much of Hal's swirling interior thoughts clogging the plot. The frenzied climax stains credulity with its questionable motivations of a key character.
The main character of the new novel is Harriet Westaway, nicknamed Hal, a young woman who ekes out a living as a Tarot reader on the Brighton Pier. Hal gets a surprising letter naming her as an heir of a deceased grandmother. But Hal immediately realizes it's a mistake, the dead woman was not her grandmother. Yet Hal is in debt and desperate, so she makes a risky decision to try to claim whatever the inheritance is.
She travels to Cornwall to the Westaway family estate of Trepassen. There she meets the brothers Harding, Able, and Ezra, along with the aged and hostile housekeeper Mrs. Warren. Hal must pass herself off as the daughter of a sister, Maud Westaway, who went missing years earlier. Hal's appearance as an unknown heir is a shock to the suspicious family members.
As Hal continues her deception, she learns more and more about Westaway family secrets long buried. But someone doesn't want those secrets exposed and Hal finds she has stepped into a dangerous trap.
The Death of Mrs. Westaway is not Ruth Ware's best work. The novel is a slow-tempo read, with far too much of Hal's swirling interior thoughts clogging the plot. The frenzied climax stains credulity with its questionable motivations of a key character.
Monday, February 26, 2018
THE ALIENIST a Dark Historical Crime Thriller
The Alienist is currently airing as a mini-series drama on TNT cable. The series is based on the original crime novel best seller by Caleb Carr. For viewers of the TV version, the novel itself offers even richer historical depth and background to the story.
Set in 1896 New York City, during the Gilded Age period, the novel follows the hunt for a diabolical murderer of multiple young boy victims. The main character is the driven, acerbic Laszlo Kreizler. He works as an alienist, a term used for the then new field of abnormal human psychology. Kreizler seeks to use his professional training to catch the perpetrator of the string of boy killings. His methods are derided by the corrupt New York police force, who do not want his help in solving the case.
What Kreizler is really doing is trying to build an early version of what is now called criminal profiling in order to catch a serial killer. He is assisted by a team of colleagues, including a crime reporter, a female police secretary, and a pair of Jewish detective brothers. Backing up Kreizler's efforts is the young New York police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt.
The Alienist is notable for its combining of a chilling criminal investigation with a distinctive historical setting. At over 500 pages, the novel is a heavy read, given the author's dense, and often ponderous writing style. But the wealth of background material may be worth the reading effort.
After the success of this novel, author Caleb Carr wrote a sequel, The Angel of Darkness, which features the same cast of characters, this time on the track of a fiendish female serial killer.
Set in 1896 New York City, during the Gilded Age period, the novel follows the hunt for a diabolical murderer of multiple young boy victims. The main character is the driven, acerbic Laszlo Kreizler. He works as an alienist, a term used for the then new field of abnormal human psychology. Kreizler seeks to use his professional training to catch the perpetrator of the string of boy killings. His methods are derided by the corrupt New York police force, who do not want his help in solving the case.
What Kreizler is really doing is trying to build an early version of what is now called criminal profiling in order to catch a serial killer. He is assisted by a team of colleagues, including a crime reporter, a female police secretary, and a pair of Jewish detective brothers. Backing up Kreizler's efforts is the young New York police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt.
The Alienist is notable for its combining of a chilling criminal investigation with a distinctive historical setting. At over 500 pages, the novel is a heavy read, given the author's dense, and often ponderous writing style. But the wealth of background material may be worth the reading effort.
After the success of this novel, author Caleb Carr wrote a sequel, The Angel of Darkness, which features the same cast of characters, this time on the track of a fiendish female serial killer.
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
TWIN PEAKS Finale: What Does it All Mean?
The Twin Peaks revival series has ended, fittingly with a final scream of horror from Laura Palmer, just as the original series began with another scream.
The new series was uneven, with striking moments at times, and other scenes that seemed to add little and go nowhere. The series was overlong at eighteen episodes, where a tighter run of ten episodes could have been more compelling. Most enjoyable was the chance to return again to the town of Twin Peaks itself and reconnect with familiar characters, much older now, from the original series.
Key to understanding the storyline are some basic themes from director David Lynch:
1. The fluidity of time between past and future.
2. The link between conscious reality and dream world reality.
3. The existence of a transcendent evil force beneath the surface of the normal world.
4. The idea that individual selves may exist in multiple different time streams.
Twin Peaks is a surrealist narrative, driven by psychological/emotional meaning, not literal, conventional plot structure. This has the effect of floating through a disjointed, fragmented nightmare with no logical anchor.
The series ends with FBI Agent Dale Cooper returning to one happy time stream self as Douglass Jones with his family in Las Vegas. In another variation, Cooper finds Laura Palmer living as a different self in another time stream life and he tries to undo the events of her murder in Twin Peaks. The result is Laura's terrifying vision back to her murder that began the original TV series.
That final brilliant sequence was a fitting jolt back to the sinister mystery coiled beneath the placid, quirky surface of Twin Peaks.
The new series was uneven, with striking moments at times, and other scenes that seemed to add little and go nowhere. The series was overlong at eighteen episodes, where a tighter run of ten episodes could have been more compelling. Most enjoyable was the chance to return again to the town of Twin Peaks itself and reconnect with familiar characters, much older now, from the original series.
Key to understanding the storyline are some basic themes from director David Lynch:
1. The fluidity of time between past and future.
2. The link between conscious reality and dream world reality.
3. The existence of a transcendent evil force beneath the surface of the normal world.
4. The idea that individual selves may exist in multiple different time streams.
Twin Peaks is a surrealist narrative, driven by psychological/emotional meaning, not literal, conventional plot structure. This has the effect of floating through a disjointed, fragmented nightmare with no logical anchor.
The series ends with FBI Agent Dale Cooper returning to one happy time stream self as Douglass Jones with his family in Las Vegas. In another variation, Cooper finds Laura Palmer living as a different self in another time stream life and he tries to undo the events of her murder in Twin Peaks. The result is Laura's terrifying vision back to her murder that began the original TV series.
That final brilliant sequence was a fitting jolt back to the sinister mystery coiled beneath the placid, quirky surface of Twin Peaks.
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
COLD EARTH Continues Shetland Mystery Series
Cold Earth by Ann Cleeves is the latest book in the mystery series set in the Shetland Islands off the east coast of Scotland. The novels, which were adapted into a popular PBS TV series, feature Inspector Jimmy Perez, head of the small island police force.
Cold Earth opens with a sudden natural disaster. Heavy winter rains on Shetland cause the land to give way on a saturated hillside. The resulting landslide sweeps downward, crushing an isolated house in its path. When the mud-filled wreckage is searched later, a woman's dead body is found inside.
The victim is unidentified. No one seems to know who was staying in the rental house. As Jimmy Perez tries to identify her, an unexpected new issue arises. An autopsy reveals the woman was murdered, strangled before the landslide ever destroyed the house.
The woman's name is eventually learned. She appears to have been having an affair with someone local, but who? Perez has a list of possible male suspects, one of whom is a killer. The answer comes in a chilling climax that gives prophetic meaning to the novel's title. For fans of the Shetland series, Cold Earth is a worthy new entry.
Cold Earth opens with a sudden natural disaster. Heavy winter rains on Shetland cause the land to give way on a saturated hillside. The resulting landslide sweeps downward, crushing an isolated house in its path. When the mud-filled wreckage is searched later, a woman's dead body is found inside.
The victim is unidentified. No one seems to know who was staying in the rental house. As Jimmy Perez tries to identify her, an unexpected new issue arises. An autopsy reveals the woman was murdered, strangled before the landslide ever destroyed the house.
The woman's name is eventually learned. She appears to have been having an affair with someone local, but who? Perez has a list of possible male suspects, one of whom is a killer. The answer comes in a chilling climax that gives prophetic meaning to the novel's title. For fans of the Shetland series, Cold Earth is a worthy new entry.
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
THE THIRST by Jo Nesbo a Hunt For Vampirist Killer
The Thirst by Norwegian author Jo Nesbo is the latest crime novel in the series that features Oslo police detective Harry Hole (pronounced Hoo-leh). Harry is a police legend for his past hunting down of fiendish serial killers, portrayed in previous Nesbo novels such as The Snowman and The Leopard.
Harry Hole is now a lecturer at the police college, no longer an active detective. But he is brought back onto an elite team trying to stop a new serial killer called the Vampirist. This sadistic killer has stalked and killed several female victims using a diabolical weapon --- a set of metal dentures which he uses to bite the victims, causing massive blood loss.
Harry obsessively pursues the killer, facing his own darkest inner demons as he does so. A suspect is identified, but the case takes unexpected twists as it appears that the Vampirist is not acting alone in his murder spree.
The Thirst is a heavy read at 450 pages that sometimes bogs down in too much discussion of criminal psychology and motivation. The murder scenes are grisly and unpleasant. The plot is overly complicated and finally reaches a climax that seems somewhat contrived. That said, Jo Nesbo fans will enjoy seeing iconic character Harry Hole on the case again.
Harry Hole is now a lecturer at the police college, no longer an active detective. But he is brought back onto an elite team trying to stop a new serial killer called the Vampirist. This sadistic killer has stalked and killed several female victims using a diabolical weapon --- a set of metal dentures which he uses to bite the victims, causing massive blood loss.
Harry obsessively pursues the killer, facing his own darkest inner demons as he does so. A suspect is identified, but the case takes unexpected twists as it appears that the Vampirist is not acting alone in his murder spree.
The Thirst is a heavy read at 450 pages that sometimes bogs down in too much discussion of criminal psychology and motivation. The murder scenes are grisly and unpleasant. The plot is overly complicated and finally reaches a climax that seems somewhat contrived. That said, Jo Nesbo fans will enjoy seeing iconic character Harry Hole on the case again.
Friday, May 19, 2017
INTO THE WATER a Tangled Psychological Maze
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins is the author's new suspense novel after her previous best seller Girl on the Train. The new title is a similar puzzle of memory and deceit told through a series of alternating character points of view.
The novel takes place in the insular English village of Beckford, where a sinister pool in the local river has claimed the lives of a succession of women going back centuries. The place is known as the Drowning Pool, where women have died -- some by suicide, some by violence in the era of witchcraft hysteria, some more recently by murder perhaps.
The latest to die is Nel Abbott. Shortly before that was teenager Katie Whitaker. Both deaths at first appear to be suicides. Investigating the case are two detectives, the locally born Inspector Sean Townsend, and Sergeant Erin Morgan.
The mystery winds through the changing internal viewpoints of a half dozen characters. But all of them may be unreliable narrators holding back their own secrets, including one of the detectives. The story is convoluted, jumping into flashbacks at times, requiring close attention by the reader to follow the narrative.
Into the Water is a tangled psychological suspense tale that builds slowly toward a resolution that is itself enigmatic, where we can still not be certain we really have the final truth.
The novel takes place in the insular English village of Beckford, where a sinister pool in the local river has claimed the lives of a succession of women going back centuries. The place is known as the Drowning Pool, where women have died -- some by suicide, some by violence in the era of witchcraft hysteria, some more recently by murder perhaps.
The latest to die is Nel Abbott. Shortly before that was teenager Katie Whitaker. Both deaths at first appear to be suicides. Investigating the case are two detectives, the locally born Inspector Sean Townsend, and Sergeant Erin Morgan.
The mystery winds through the changing internal viewpoints of a half dozen characters. But all of them may be unreliable narrators holding back their own secrets, including one of the detectives. The story is convoluted, jumping into flashbacks at times, requiring close attention by the reader to follow the narrative.
Into the Water is a tangled psychological suspense tale that builds slowly toward a resolution that is itself enigmatic, where we can still not be certain we really have the final truth.
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR a Tangled Mystery
The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena is a tangled domestic mystery filled with continued, surprising plot twists. Nothing is as it first seems, and all of the key characters are hiding secrets which are eventually revealed.
Anne and Marco Conti are parents with a new baby girl. When their babysitter cancels, they decide to attend a dinner part anyway at their next door neighbors' house. They leave their baby, Cora, sleeping alone while checking on her every half-hour. But when Anne goes to check on Cora at one a.m., the baby's crib is empty. Someone has taken her.
The police are called. A search is undertaken. But no sign of who took Cora is found. Anne and Marco are distraught. Detective Rasbach begins to suspect the parents are hiding something. They had both been drinking earlier. Anne has been seeing a psychiatrist for poet-partum depression. Something is off about all of it, but Rasbach can't tell what it is.
More plot twists unfold. Anne's parents arrive to help, with their own agenda. The next door neighbors are questioned, but they may be hiding something as well. A witness may have seen something. But the baby is still missing.
The Couple Next Door is a compelling, tautly written mystery that moves toward an unexpected answer. The novel makes entertaining winter reading for mystery fans.
Anne and Marco Conti are parents with a new baby girl. When their babysitter cancels, they decide to attend a dinner part anyway at their next door neighbors' house. They leave their baby, Cora, sleeping alone while checking on her every half-hour. But when Anne goes to check on Cora at one a.m., the baby's crib is empty. Someone has taken her.
The police are called. A search is undertaken. But no sign of who took Cora is found. Anne and Marco are distraught. Detective Rasbach begins to suspect the parents are hiding something. They had both been drinking earlier. Anne has been seeing a psychiatrist for poet-partum depression. Something is off about all of it, but Rasbach can't tell what it is.
More plot twists unfold. Anne's parents arrive to help, with their own agenda. The next door neighbors are questioned, but they may be hiding something as well. A witness may have seen something. But the baby is still missing.
The Couple Next Door is a compelling, tautly written mystery that moves toward an unexpected answer. The novel makes entertaining winter reading for mystery fans.
Monday, September 19, 2016
Caleb Carr is back with SURRENDER, NEW YORK
Surrender, New York is a new crime novel by Caleb Carr. His earlier bestselling novel, The Alienist, dealt with the first use of psychological profiling to solve crimes in 1900 New York City.
Carr's new novel is set in the upstate New York town of Surrender, where a series of grotesque deaths of local teenagers has occurred. The novel's main character is Dr. Trajan Jones, a criminal profiler, who works with Dr. Mike Li, a trace evidence expert.
The teenage victims were all part of a class called "throwaway children," who were abandoned by or kicked out of their original families. Jones and Li believe some unknown predators are targeting these rootless kids. But their theory puts them in conflict with authorities who may be covering up a disturbing conspiracy.
The author uses the novel to advance his criticism that crime investigation now relies too much on CSI-type physical evidence that points in only one direction. Trajan Jones argues that profiling the entire psychological context of the crime is better able to consider all potential motives and suspects.
Surrender, New York is a densely written, overly long novel which could be shorter by two hundred pages and suffers from some weak plot elements. Recommended only for dedicated Caleb Carr fans.
Carr's new novel is set in the upstate New York town of Surrender, where a series of grotesque deaths of local teenagers has occurred. The novel's main character is Dr. Trajan Jones, a criminal profiler, who works with Dr. Mike Li, a trace evidence expert.
The teenage victims were all part of a class called "throwaway children," who were abandoned by or kicked out of their original families. Jones and Li believe some unknown predators are targeting these rootless kids. But their theory puts them in conflict with authorities who may be covering up a disturbing conspiracy.
The author uses the novel to advance his criticism that crime investigation now relies too much on CSI-type physical evidence that points in only one direction. Trajan Jones argues that profiling the entire psychological context of the crime is better able to consider all potential motives and suspects.
Surrender, New York is a densely written, overly long novel which could be shorter by two hundred pages and suffers from some weak plot elements. Recommended only for dedicated Caleb Carr fans.
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 an Eerie Mystery
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware is an eerie psychological mystery set within the claustrophobic confines of a huge luxury yacht.
Lo Blacklock is a travel journalist assigned to cover the week long cruise of the Aurora on the North Sea. The handful of passengers are a mix of wealthy or celebrity guests invited on the luxurious cruise. But it all changes when Lo thinks she sees a woman thrown overboard one night.
Lo's report of what she saw is not believed. No one from the passengers or crew is missing. Lo herself has had problems with drinking and use of anti-depressants. She suffers from sudden panic attacks. Is the lost woman all in Lo's head, or is there a cover-up going on of a real murder aboard the boat?
The Woman in Cabin 10 starts slowly, but builds in intensity as a paranoid Lo suspects everyone around her, until a startling plot twist changes everything that went before. The novel is the kind of story that fans of seemingly insoluble mystery situations will enjoy.
A CHILLING SUSPENSE THRILLER BY WILLIAM WILDE
Don't ever go into that room.
Now available in Paperback and eBook at Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008BY7BG8#nav-subnav
Lo Blacklock is a travel journalist assigned to cover the week long cruise of the Aurora on the North Sea. The handful of passengers are a mix of wealthy or celebrity guests invited on the luxurious cruise. But it all changes when Lo thinks she sees a woman thrown overboard one night.
Lo's report of what she saw is not believed. No one from the passengers or crew is missing. Lo herself has had problems with drinking and use of anti-depressants. She suffers from sudden panic attacks. Is the lost woman all in Lo's head, or is there a cover-up going on of a real murder aboard the boat?
The Woman in Cabin 10 starts slowly, but builds in intensity as a paranoid Lo suspects everyone around her, until a startling plot twist changes everything that went before. The novel is the kind of story that fans of seemingly insoluble mystery situations will enjoy.
A CHILLING SUSPENSE THRILLER BY WILLIAM WILDE
Don't ever go into that room.
Now available in Paperback and eBook at Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008BY7BG8#nav-subnav
Friday, August 12, 2016
IN A DARK, DARK WOOD a Sinister Memory Puzzle
In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware is a sinister psychological mystery whose answer depends on the confused, damaged memories of one character.
The story is set in the woods of northern England, where a group of six gather for a bachelorette party in an isolated country house. Nora Shaw is the main character, an introverted woman who doesn't want to be there with people she hasn't seen in years. The party is for her once best friend Clare Cavendish, but the two have lost touch until now.
Once the group gathers at the house in the spooky woods, tensions rise as old secrets and resentments begin to emerge. Then a truly horrific incident occurs suddenly and someone is dead. But was it only a grotesque accident, or is something more diabolical at work?
Nora Shaw herself can't remember what happened. She suffered a head injury in a car accident as she fled the house. Now the police have questions she can't answer.
The truth emerges in disjointed puzzle pieces from Nora's damaged memory. But is it a truth she even wants to fully remember? In a Dark, Dark Wood is a compelling read that saves its answers until the wrenching final twist.
The story is set in the woods of northern England, where a group of six gather for a bachelorette party in an isolated country house. Nora Shaw is the main character, an introverted woman who doesn't want to be there with people she hasn't seen in years. The party is for her once best friend Clare Cavendish, but the two have lost touch until now.
Once the group gathers at the house in the spooky woods, tensions rise as old secrets and resentments begin to emerge. Then a truly horrific incident occurs suddenly and someone is dead. But was it only a grotesque accident, or is something more diabolical at work?
Nora Shaw herself can't remember what happened. She suffered a head injury in a car accident as she fled the house. Now the police have questions she can't answer.
The truth emerges in disjointed puzzle pieces from Nora's damaged memory. But is it a truth she even wants to fully remember? In a Dark, Dark Wood is a compelling read that saves its answers until the wrenching final twist.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
GIRL ON THE TRAIN a Devious Psychological Mystery
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins is a devious psychological mystery that shifts through a series of plot twists, first pointing in one direction, then changing course again.
The plot structure is elaborate. Events move in chapters told in the first person by three alternating narrators --- Rachel, Anna, and Megan. An added complication is that Megan's chapters take place in a time period a few months earlier than the chapters narrated by Rachel and Anna.
Rachel Watson is the central character, a troubled alcoholic with memory blackouts, who is unhappily divorced and jobless. She rides commuter trains to fill her empty life. Other characters circle around her confused thoughts. Tom Watson, her ex-husband. Anna Watson, Tom's new wife. Scott and Megan Hipwell, former neighbors at Rachel's old home. Dr. Kamel Abdic, a psychiatrist.
When a key character goes missing, followed by the discovery of a body, the truth of what happened can only be worked out through the competing narrative accounts of Rachel, Anna, and Megan. The answers build piece by piece toward the startling exposure of the killer.
The Girl on the Train is a smartly written, compelling psychological mystery read. It's a much more satisfying novel than last year's similar genre novel, Gone Girl, with its manipulative, misleading plot, unreliable narrators, and flagrantly over-written style by the author.
The plot structure is elaborate. Events move in chapters told in the first person by three alternating narrators --- Rachel, Anna, and Megan. An added complication is that Megan's chapters take place in a time period a few months earlier than the chapters narrated by Rachel and Anna.
Rachel Watson is the central character, a troubled alcoholic with memory blackouts, who is unhappily divorced and jobless. She rides commuter trains to fill her empty life. Other characters circle around her confused thoughts. Tom Watson, her ex-husband. Anna Watson, Tom's new wife. Scott and Megan Hipwell, former neighbors at Rachel's old home. Dr. Kamel Abdic, a psychiatrist.
When a key character goes missing, followed by the discovery of a body, the truth of what happened can only be worked out through the competing narrative accounts of Rachel, Anna, and Megan. The answers build piece by piece toward the startling exposure of the killer.
The Girl on the Train is a smartly written, compelling psychological mystery read. It's a much more satisfying novel than last year's similar genre novel, Gone Girl, with its manipulative, misleading plot, unreliable narrators, and flagrantly over-written style by the author.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
WAYWARD PINES Series a Sinister Psychological Puzzle
Wayward Pines is a new mystery mini-series debuting on FOX TV May 14. The pilot episode (available now on Comcast On Demand) shows strong potential of a layered puzzle with unexpected twists to come.
Secret Service agent Ethan Burke is sent to the isolated town of Wayward Pines, Idaho to look for two missing fellow agents. He's involved in a sudden car crash and awakens in the town hospital. Nothing is normal after that.
Ethan can't get a phone call to the outside world. The local sheriff is menacing and unhelpful. The town residents seem to be hiding something. The highway out is a circular road, leading right back into the town again.
Ethan is suffering from a concussion. References are made to his past mental problems. Nothing about the town seems normal, or is it all in Ethan's own mind? Then it gets worse when he finds the body of one of the missing agents in an abandoned house.
Wayward Pines is directed by M. Night Shyamalan, whose past films have featured artificial reality situations with hidden secrets lurking beneath (Signs, The Village). In Wayward Pines, some characters seem to be manipulating events around Ethan, and at one point, he is referred to by a number. Is the whole town part of some kind of experiment or a test? Or is it a mental treatment facility or even a high tech prison?
Based on the first episode, Wayward Pines looks like a sinister psychological puzzle that should appeal to fans of other enigmatic series like Twin Peaks, Lost, and The Prisoner.
Secret Service agent Ethan Burke is sent to the isolated town of Wayward Pines, Idaho to look for two missing fellow agents. He's involved in a sudden car crash and awakens in the town hospital. Nothing is normal after that.
Ethan can't get a phone call to the outside world. The local sheriff is menacing and unhelpful. The town residents seem to be hiding something. The highway out is a circular road, leading right back into the town again.
Ethan is suffering from a concussion. References are made to his past mental problems. Nothing about the town seems normal, or is it all in Ethan's own mind? Then it gets worse when he finds the body of one of the missing agents in an abandoned house.
Wayward Pines is directed by M. Night Shyamalan, whose past films have featured artificial reality situations with hidden secrets lurking beneath (Signs, The Village). In Wayward Pines, some characters seem to be manipulating events around Ethan, and at one point, he is referred to by a number. Is the whole town part of some kind of experiment or a test? Or is it a mental treatment facility or even a high tech prison?
Based on the first episode, Wayward Pines looks like a sinister psychological puzzle that should appeal to fans of other enigmatic series like Twin Peaks, Lost, and The Prisoner.
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