- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: Quercus; UK First Edition; 1st printing. edition (2 April 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1847247970
- ISBN-13: 978-1847247971
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,080,816 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
Gripping - Elle.
The best women's thriller in years - Algemeen Dagblad.
Excellent little thriller… if you like your crime fiction suspenseful, erotically romantic, tense and pacy, this is definitely a book for you' Euro Crime.
The best women's thriller in years - Algemeen Dagblad.
Excellent little thriller… if you like your crime fiction suspenseful, erotically romantic, tense and pacy, this is definitely a book for you' Euro Crime.
Review
Gripping - Elle. The best women's thriller in years - Algemeen Dagblad. Excellent little thriller if you like your crime fiction suspenseful, erotically romantic, tense and pacy, this is definitely a book for you' Euro Crime.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This enjoyable tense chilling thriller is the author's
first novel to be translated into English from Dutch.
The plump Margot has recently come out of a long relationship
and feels at odds with herself,her job, and her family when she
meets a charismatic famous photographer,Leon.A passionate
relationship follows which changes Margot's life and view of
herself.Whilst having some doubts about Leon she feels that he
is the man for her,but what she does not know,and the reader does -is
that Leon's ex-girlfriend did not commit suicide in the bath --
she was murdered.Though a shade too long,the novel holds the
tension until the ending,which took me completely by surprise.
first novel to be translated into English from Dutch.
The plump Margot has recently come out of a long relationship
and feels at odds with herself,her job, and her family when she
meets a charismatic famous photographer,Leon.A passionate
relationship follows which changes Margot's life and view of
herself.Whilst having some doubts about Leon she feels that he
is the man for her,but what she does not know,and the reader does -is
that Leon's ex-girlfriend did not commit suicide in the bath --
she was murdered.Though a shade too long,the novel holds the
tension until the ending,which took me completely by surprise.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Translated by Leon Vincent. Margot Laine is an office-furnishings salesperson who calls herself an interior designer. She's recently been dumped by her husband of seven years, John, and has moved from the village where she's lived since childhood to a new apartment, helped by her brother and a couple of friends. She's put on a lot of weight over the past few years, feels stifled by her uncomprehending parents, and as the book opens is stood up by a girlfriend with whom she's arranged to go to London for a rare weekend away.
Margot decides to go anyway, and while on the plane a handsome fellow passenger opens up a conversation with her. As they disembark, he gives her his mobile phone number, encouraging her to get in touch if she's at a loose end during her weekend. After struggling to find her way to the city centre, being ripped off by the taxi driver and discovering her hotel to be little short of disgusting, she contacts the man in desperation. He turns out to be a well-known art photographer called Leon, and seems to be very keen on Margot, to her surprise (her self esteem is rock bottom).
I became absorbed in Margot's world while I read this excellent little thriller. Although I found some of her helplessness during the weekend stretching it a bit (wouldn't she at least have taken a tourist guidebook with her?), the author provides a convincing view of the world through a lonely, insecure woman's eyes. Her gradual awakening as a result of Leon's attention and interest is meticulously told. Although Leon is a rather cliched Mr Rochester type (secretive, autocratic), he seems to be not only genuinely devoted to Margot but also, by encouraging her to quit her job and providing her with contacts for her fledging designer business, seems to be helping her to be independent.
I write "seems" because of course there is a catch. Leon's previous girlfriend, who inevitably looks uncannily like Margot, committed suicide by cutting her wrists while in the bath. Leon has never recovered. We, the reader, know that the death was not suicide but murder, and we know that Margot is in the killer's sights. What follows is a kind of dance between Margot's gradual build-up of self-confidence and improvement in all aspects of her life (I particularly liked her changing relationship with her parents), and the slow development of the killer's plans to kill her. Is Leon the killer, or is it someone else? I'm not going to reveal the answer here, of course, but if you like your crime fiction suspenseful, erotically romantic, tense and pacy, this is definitely a book for you. It is confidently written, smoothly translated, with a believable, attractive protagonist.
Margot decides to go anyway, and while on the plane a handsome fellow passenger opens up a conversation with her. As they disembark, he gives her his mobile phone number, encouraging her to get in touch if she's at a loose end during her weekend. After struggling to find her way to the city centre, being ripped off by the taxi driver and discovering her hotel to be little short of disgusting, she contacts the man in desperation. He turns out to be a well-known art photographer called Leon, and seems to be very keen on Margot, to her surprise (her self esteem is rock bottom).
I became absorbed in Margot's world while I read this excellent little thriller. Although I found some of her helplessness during the weekend stretching it a bit (wouldn't she at least have taken a tourist guidebook with her?), the author provides a convincing view of the world through a lonely, insecure woman's eyes. Her gradual awakening as a result of Leon's attention and interest is meticulously told. Although Leon is a rather cliched Mr Rochester type (secretive, autocratic), he seems to be not only genuinely devoted to Margot but also, by encouraging her to quit her job and providing her with contacts for her fledging designer business, seems to be helping her to be independent.
I write "seems" because of course there is a catch. Leon's previous girlfriend, who inevitably looks uncannily like Margot, committed suicide by cutting her wrists while in the bath. Leon has never recovered. We, the reader, know that the death was not suicide but murder, and we know that Margot is in the killer's sights. What follows is a kind of dance between Margot's gradual build-up of self-confidence and improvement in all aspects of her life (I particularly liked her changing relationship with her parents), and the slow development of the killer's plans to kill her. Is Leon the killer, or is it someone else? I'm not going to reveal the answer here, of course, but if you like your crime fiction suspenseful, erotically romantic, tense and pacy, this is definitely a book for you. It is confidently written, smoothly translated, with a believable, attractive protagonist.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
From the moment you pick up this book you are fooled by its secret, excited and thrilled by its intense writing. The character Margot is vunerable, believable and an everyday girl with quite a boring normal life. She meets a man on a plane and is thrown suddenly into a life of eccentrics and arty people who lead quite different and dangerous lives to her.
We are frightened for her as the story progresses and as the reader, know more than she does, but do we!!!!!!
This book is very plausable and has a fast pace and great writing and it is not ruined by translation. Esther Verhoef is a very prolific writer I believe, in Holland and we are so lucky to at last have her first book translated into english.
There is a thrilling and unexpected and surprising twist at the end and is one of the best books I have read in a long time.
Personally I cant wait for the next book, and I felt lost when I finished the book.
We are frightened for her as the story progresses and as the reader, know more than she does, but do we!!!!!!
This book is very plausable and has a fast pace and great writing and it is not ruined by translation. Esther Verhoef is a very prolific writer I believe, in Holland and we are so lucky to at last have her first book translated into english.
There is a thrilling and unexpected and surprising twist at the end and is one of the best books I have read in a long time.
Personally I cant wait for the next book, and I felt lost when I finished the book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Fantastic book!
This was an absolutely fantastic book with one of the best twists I have seen in a long time. I'm not the brightest of sparks with books in that I don't always spot the twist but I... Read more
Published 8 months ago by maryscot0509
My fingers spread and pushed her head underwater...
A Dutch writer, Esther Verhoeff has exemplary skills in setting up this scary thriller which hinges on who among a number of characters might be the killer. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Eileen Shaw
Generously given 3*
I thought the tale was overlong as well as another reveiwer - too much waffle. I found myself skipping bits as they rattled on about interior design or such and not actual plot. Read more
Published on 5 July 2009 by Sterile
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