Undertow Book

Lesley Grant-Adamson continues to prove that she is an author with an unswerving grasp of the demands of the psychological thriller with Undertow, a highly adroit follow-up to such previous winners as Patterns in the Dustand Evil Acts. Her heroine, the insecure Alice, tells herself that the small town of Stark Point is a delightful place and the perfect spot to revive her relationship with her boyfriend Charles. But she grows to hate the bleak community, especially when her alienated husband turns up and drags her into the 40-year-old mystery of a vanished local couple. She then finds herself the unlikely ally of local man Joe Keenthorne, regarded by the whole community as a murderer who has cheated justice. And soon she is on the receiving end of violence herself. Grant-Adamson's grasp of the psychology of her characters and the windswept setting achieve the kind of balance found only in the best thriller writers. There are echoes of Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca in the lucid and powerful unfolding of a complex mystery; and if Alice is a very different protagonist from some of the author's more assured heroines, this is still a suspenseful and atmospheric outing. --Barry ForshawRead More