A debut novel, this book contains all the elements you would expect in a psychological thriller.
The Thorns are living a happy family life in North West London when a tragedy changes their lives forever. Rosa takes a job as a supply drama teacher in the tough local comprehensive and her two teenage children are less than thrilled about it. The fourteen year old daughter has her fair share of the normal teenage angst compounded by the constant presence outside her house of a schizophrenic man twice her age who befriends her. Understandably Rosa is worried about the relationship but receives little support from the authorities who believe she is over-reacting. But when a series of grisly events begin to happen (be warned: they involve mutilated animals) and young girls are murdered, Rosa has to act to protect her family.
There are some excellently drawn characters in this book (I particularly liked Jess, the foul-mouthed English teacher) but for me Rosa is just a little too beautiful, too forgiving, and too inconsistent in her suspicions towards others. Her grief and anger about her changed circumstances are, however, depicted with a depth of understanding and sensitivity that is very moving and believable. I also loved the description of her theatrical agent: ‘Boo’s aura slips momentarily and I see the shark beneath the skin’. The story itself has a myriad of twists and turns and enough tension to hook even the most jaded of thriller readers but the identity of the serial killer was (for me at least) a tad predictable.
This is a book that will appeal to readers who like their thrillers set against
the backdrop of contemporary domestic life (with all its ups and downs) and
who enjoy pitting their wits against an author with a love of misdirection.
It didn’t wow me but maybe that’s my fault for not having teenage children.
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Ruth Wade
Verna Cork’s second book The Art of Dying is published 8 December 2005.