Since her debut novel, The Ice House (1992), best-selling author Minette Walters has risen above the standard fare of mysteries and thrillers and produced works rich in character development and psychological suspense. Despite his rage and instability, Charles Acland proves to be a sympathetic, if somewhat shifty, protagonistâ€"no small feat for a writer. Some critics complained of an implausible denouement, and others claimed that the plot became a little unfocused, perhaps because, in the novel’s catalog of social ills, Walters has bitten off slightly more than she can chew. However, Walters’s vivid, convincing characters sustain this powerful and engrossing thriller, which successfully provides a sobering examination of the private and collective damage inflicted by war.

Alfred A Knopf
Book Club
2007
Clean tight bright copy Looks barely read Very nice shape Minor edge wear to dust jacket
364 pages
Mystery
Serial Killers
Iraqi War