1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A gripping and haunting novel., 22 Sep 2001
This review is from: Ravelling (Paperback)
This powerful novel works on several levels. As a revealing study of psychosis that challenges our perception of truth. As an exploration of the effect of sudden loss and grief on an ordinary family. As a darkly enthralling thriller that stimulates our imagination and engages our brains in the search for truth. As a confirmation of the enduring,if sometimes delayed triumph of good over evil. Peter Moore Smith draws the reader into the confused and often violent world of Pilot Arie who believes that his brother is responsible for the disappearance of their sister many years ago. The book skillfully moves our sympathies from brother to brother throughout. A plight that we share with the female psychologist who gradually unravels the truth. Tension and pace is constantly maintained and the detailed exploration of the disfunctional family Arie adds depth and belief to this outstanding work.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A book you can't put down till the last page has turned!, 27 Dec 2000
Excellent, gripping, brilliant! I hadn't read a book in about four years, and I thought I could not go back to reading a book in a day. When I started Ravelling, I couldn't put it down! It was fantastic. Rarely do my friends and family share the same taste as I do, but after I had read it my dad, brother and housemate all had a read and they came to the same conclusion- truely mind boggling!
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5.0 out of 5 stars
PUBLISHERS REVIEW [From The Dust Jacket Flaps]., 28 April 2009
DO YOU JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER ? ... For your convenience, I have supplied a photograph of the book, and here is what the dust jacket flaps ['blurb'] states :
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Pilot James Airie was named, curiously, after his fathers passion - he flew for an airline. It wasn't a profession Pilot ever considered for himself, but Pilot has not exactly been himself since his little sister, Fiona, disappeared ...
Father, mother and Pilot's elder brother all believed that Fiona had been murdered. It tore the family apart. And even though Pilot's mother had transformed the pool into a garden, growing carrots, potatoes, radishes, string beans and rhubarb, she could not bury the past.
According to his neurosurgeon brother, Eric, Pilot had always been psychologically fragile, and now aged twenty-nine he is still in therapy for a schizophrenic condition. And he continues to see Fiona in a series of still images, like a series of old photographs. The real ones his mother had hidden away. But Pilot can see, as if they are real, the tiny bumbs of gooseflesh rising on the skin of her arms. There is a blur of red inside her mouth. There is a gurgling sound coming from somewhere inside her.
Through a trauma of confusion, betrayal, madness and memories, Pilot feels his way towards the truth of what happened all those years ago. But, in doing so, he risks devastating his family all over again. He also fears what he may discover about those closest to him. But, most of all, Pilot Airie is terrified of what he may find inside himself.
RAVELLING is Peter Moore Smith's first novel. It is a disturbing and original debut.
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