A tragedy has changed Rosa Thorn's life for ever. Now she has to start again with a new job, a new school for her children and some empty space in her life. But strange things start to happen...
When a growing sense of unease turns into sudden violence, Rosa fears for her safety and even more so for the wellbeing of her children. For her daughter is the subject of someone's demented infatuation. But like a diseased town fox, the real threat stalks in the shadows, in the night-black recesses of the undergrowth, not just of the city, but of the human mind...
Thorn
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Review
`Thorn is one of those rare and energetic books you can't put down yet don't want to end` (The Times )
'This is a compelling, if dark-hued, psychological thriller and first novel that eerily captures some of London's more sinister undercurrents and sense of menace' (The Guardian )
'In her atmospheric suspense novel Thorn, Vena Cork skilfully builds a sinister feeling of menace surrounding her attractive heroine.' (Sunday Telegraph )
'There's more to this psychological thriller than meets the eye. Look no further for a real sense of menace.' (Daily Mirror )
'You'll be gripped as this persuasive thriller races to its grisly conclusion.' (Marie Claire )
'An outstanding debut.' (Time Out )
'Vena Cork's perceptions of human nature are spot-on and the suspense is tangible when the small malevolent acts turn into something much more evil and sinister. This is a great start to what is sure to be a string of successful books' (Aberdeen Press & Journal )
'A tense pace combined with a tightly woven narrative makes this a surprisingly compelling debut from novelist Vena Cork' (Buzz )
'This is a compelling, if dark-hued, psychological thriller and first novel that eerily captures some of London's more sinister undercurrents and sense of menace' (The Guardian )
'In her atmospheric suspense novel Thorn, Vena Cork skilfully builds a sinister feeling of menace surrounding her attractive heroine.' (Sunday Telegraph )
'There's more to this psychological thriller than meets the eye. Look no further for a real sense of menace.' (Daily Mirror )
'You'll be gripped as this persuasive thriller races to its grisly conclusion.' (Marie Claire )
'An outstanding debut.' (Time Out )
'Vena Cork's perceptions of human nature are spot-on and the suspense is tangible when the small malevolent acts turn into something much more evil and sinister. This is a great start to what is sure to be a string of successful books' (Aberdeen Press & Journal )
'A tense pace combined with a tightly woven narrative makes this a surprisingly compelling debut from novelist Vena Cork' (Buzz )
About the Author
Vena Cork is originally from Lancashire, but has lived in London all her adult life. She attended Homerton College, Cambridge, where she was a member of Cambridge Footlights. She is married to the art critic Richard Cork and lives in north west London. This is her first novel.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By tregatt
Format:Paperback
For mystery buffs who have missed the excellent Claire Francis' dark and subtly nuanced mystery novels can take heart: Vena Cork seems poised to take over this niche, and quite successfully too if her debut novel, "Thorn" is anything to go by.
Rosa Thorn's life, and those of her two children, Danny and Anna, were irrevocably changed when her artist husband, Rob, was killed in a hit-and-run accident. Now, almost a whole year later, Rosa is coping not only with the pain and grief of losing Rob, but with money problems as well. As Rosa and her children try to adjust to lives without Rob, a new school (for the kids) and a new job (for Rosa), the last thing Rosa needed was to have to contend with Anna becoming the apple of the local derelict's eye. And when a young girl is found murdered nearby, Rosa begins to fear for Anna's safety -- especially since she's beginning to sense that a dark and menacing presence is keeping an eye on her family...
"Thorn" proved to be quite the page turner: it was suspenseful and gripping and full of riveting plot twists. I thought that Vena Cork did a rather masterful job of portraying the grief and sense of loss that Rosa, Danny and Anna felt, making the characters accessible and engaging. The manner in which she layered the suspense, building on the tension with each plot twist was wonderfully done as well. All in all, this was a terrific debut novel, worth sitting up and taking notice of. It was absorbing and compelling and possessed coloured the kind of dark, menacing atmosphere you want your mystery novel to have. Definitely an unputdownable.
Rosa Thorn's life, and those of her two children, Danny and Anna, were irrevocably changed when her artist husband, Rob, was killed in a hit-and-run accident. Now, almost a whole year later, Rosa is coping not only with the pain and grief of losing Rob, but with money problems as well. As Rosa and her children try to adjust to lives without Rob, a new school (for the kids) and a new job (for Rosa), the last thing Rosa needed was to have to contend with Anna becoming the apple of the local derelict's eye. And when a young girl is found murdered nearby, Rosa begins to fear for Anna's safety -- especially since she's beginning to sense that a dark and menacing presence is keeping an eye on her family...
"Thorn" proved to be quite the page turner: it was suspenseful and gripping and full of riveting plot twists. I thought that Vena Cork did a rather masterful job of portraying the grief and sense of loss that Rosa, Danny and Anna felt, making the characters accessible and engaging. The manner in which she layered the suspense, building on the tension with each plot twist was wonderfully done as well. All in all, this was a terrific debut novel, worth sitting up and taking notice of. It was absorbing and compelling and possessed coloured the kind of dark, menacing atmosphere you want your mystery novel to have. Definitely an unputdownable.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Script Angel
Format:Paperback
I'm afraid that I found this a very disappointing read overall. Although neither the prose nor the story itself could be said to be very poor they both failed to really engage me. The greatest problem is the structure of the novel which is incredibly uneven in terms of content and pace. For the first two-thirds of the book very little actually happens. There is some sense of unease created by the presence of Mick O'Brien and the dead animals being left outside the house but this is too flimsy to sustain such a huge chunk of the novel. The prose itself is quite naïve and never really conveys the levels of menace and fear which the story requires.
In addition, because the final revelation is so poorly seeded through the novel I'm afraid I found what should have been a dramatic climax instead completely farcical. We seemed to lurch in a moment from dull and pedestrian to high drama. The novel essentially fails to build towards its climax properly so instead of being swept along on a wave of intrigue, mystery, suspense and tension I felt completely adrift from the action and therefore viewed it with total detachment and disbelief.
The other great weakness in the novel is the characterisation. The author only really seems comfortable portraying a certain social class of character. Some of the depictions of general family life for a mother of two teenagers did ring quite true. By contrast the depictions of the children's new `working class' friends are pretty awful. They are stereotyped by their names (Delroy, Dwaine, Crystal, Athy), by their actions (drugs and extreme bullying) and by their speech (inarticulate with a lot of teeth-sucking by the afro-Caribbean mother). The further supporting cast were equally unconvincing from the hugely important Tom Brice down to Mick the local nutter.
In addition, because the final revelation is so poorly seeded through the novel I'm afraid I found what should have been a dramatic climax instead completely farcical. We seemed to lurch in a moment from dull and pedestrian to high drama. The novel essentially fails to build towards its climax properly so instead of being swept along on a wave of intrigue, mystery, suspense and tension I felt completely adrift from the action and therefore viewed it with total detachment and disbelief.
The other great weakness in the novel is the characterisation. The author only really seems comfortable portraying a certain social class of character. Some of the depictions of general family life for a mother of two teenagers did ring quite true. By contrast the depictions of the children's new `working class' friends are pretty awful. They are stereotyped by their names (Delroy, Dwaine, Crystal, Athy), by their actions (drugs and extreme bullying) and by their speech (inarticulate with a lot of teeth-sucking by the afro-Caribbean mother). The further supporting cast were equally unconvincing from the hugely important Tom Brice down to Mick the local nutter.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Ms. M
Format:Paperback
Having looked at the other reviews of this novel, I can only conclude that they all must be personal friends of the author.Probably friends that owe her money. Maybe they want to stay on the right side of her,'cos they borrow her lawnmower now and again. I can think of no other reason why these reviews exist.
I need to know: In what universe could this book compare to a Barbara Vine?, Nicci French,? A Dr Seuss book even? Those authors strive to MAKE SENSE.
This book was chosen by my book group. We dutifully all read it and came back to discuss it...one of the few times in a group that's been going for years when we were all in agreement- it's toe-curlingly bad. We didn't so much as discuss it, but carry out a sort of autopsy. A few of us are certain that the writer created this while intoxicated- drunk while in charge of a laptop. The plot makes very little sense. Strike that- no sense AT ALL. The villain of the piece stopped short of twirling his moustache, brandishing his cloak and tying a girl to the railway tracks (just), he was so deranged, how he succeeded not being discovered when he could clearly not be trusted with a cotton bud was inexplicable. The area the book is set in is well known to us...a place where roaring middle- class mummies get visibly upset if you don't recycle your organic milk carton correctly- symbolic murders would cause much comment at the local farmers market. Trust me. We know. Which Queen's Park is this book set in? And wild life? Really?
Still we have much to thank the author for. Until then, I hadn't realised that you could be embarrassed by a novel that wasn't pornography. We live and learn, eh? This book is so terrible it's become a bench mark for our group. All books ever after eventually invite either the comment 'Blimey that was dreadful...but still better than Thorn'. or 'Well it's great..not Thorn-like at all!'
It's also encouraged other writers among us. After all, if this book could get published how bad could we possibly be?
Read if you want an (unintentional) good laugh.
I need to know: In what universe could this book compare to a Barbara Vine?, Nicci French,? A Dr Seuss book even? Those authors strive to MAKE SENSE.
This book was chosen by my book group. We dutifully all read it and came back to discuss it...one of the few times in a group that's been going for years when we were all in agreement- it's toe-curlingly bad. We didn't so much as discuss it, but carry out a sort of autopsy. A few of us are certain that the writer created this while intoxicated- drunk while in charge of a laptop. The plot makes very little sense. Strike that- no sense AT ALL. The villain of the piece stopped short of twirling his moustache, brandishing his cloak and tying a girl to the railway tracks (just), he was so deranged, how he succeeded not being discovered when he could clearly not be trusted with a cotton bud was inexplicable. The area the book is set in is well known to us...a place where roaring middle- class mummies get visibly upset if you don't recycle your organic milk carton correctly- symbolic murders would cause much comment at the local farmers market. Trust me. We know. Which Queen's Park is this book set in? And wild life? Really?
Still we have much to thank the author for. Until then, I hadn't realised that you could be embarrassed by a novel that wasn't pornography. We live and learn, eh? This book is so terrible it's become a bench mark for our group. All books ever after eventually invite either the comment 'Blimey that was dreadful...but still better than Thorn'. or 'Well it's great..not Thorn-like at all!'
It's also encouraged other writers among us. After all, if this book could get published how bad could we possibly be?
Read if you want an (unintentional) good laugh.
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4.7 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
not a good read for me
this book ust did not do anything for me. right from the first i simply could not ' take 'to rosie thorn. Read more
Published 14 months ago by D. Burbridge
1.0 out of 5 stars
Dismal
I read this on the strength of a good review in Time Out but I haven't read such a load of claptrap in a long time. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Alfie Amalfi
4.0 out of 5 stars
-
I picked this book out of my friend's attic since I needed something to read. It's an easy read, it took me about two/three days to fly through it. Read more
Published on 1 May 2009 by Roxanne Adams
5.0 out of 5 stars
Riveting - couldn't put it down!
This was a chance find but from the moment I read the first pages I couldn't put it down!
It builds up pace consistently from beginning to end and never fails to enthral... Read more
It builds up pace consistently from beginning to end and never fails to enthral... Read more
Published on 31 July 2008 by Kenn
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thorn
I have been looking for a new author as have exhausted my recent favorites. I found Vena Corks novel an easy, enjoyable read. Kept me guessing to the end!
Published on 15 Dec 2007 by J
5.0 out of 5 stars
Chilling
The end of this novel blew me away. The characters were full and rounded, extremely well-developed, an eclectic cast and the setting was convincing. Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2007 by Jane Baker
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing, couldn't put it down!
Obviously the cover of the book drew me in. Working in a libary I read loads of books but this has to be the best I have read for a long time, so many twists and really hooks you. Read more
Published on 6 April 2006 by Juemez
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
It started a little slow but once it got going, I couldn't put it down. It kept you guessing all the way through and often I got it wrong. Read more
Published on 27 Sep 2005
4.0 out of 5 stars
fantastic read
I have to say i was a bit wary of this book, new author and all that, but i need not have worried, the story gripped you from start to finish, i couldn't put it down, i had to see... Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2004
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