See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.

96 used & new from £0.01
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Red Room
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

The Red Room (Paperback)

by Nicci French (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


1 new from £2.44 95 used from £0.01
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover 31 used & new from £0.01
Paperback £7.99 £5.99 24 used & new from £4.00
Mass Market Paperback 26 used & new from £0.01
Hardcover (Large Print) 6 used & new from £1.83
Audio CD (Audiobook) £54.50 £54.50 2 used & new from £43.24
Audio Cassette (Abridged,Audiobook) 5 used & new from £1.98

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Safe House

The Safe House

by Nicci French
3.3 out of 5 stars (23)  £5.49
Beneath the Skin

Beneath the Skin

by Nicci French
4.0 out of 5 stars (53)  £7.19
Land of the Living

Land of the Living

by Nicci French
3.9 out of 5 stars (32)  £5.49
Catch Me When I Fall

Catch Me When I Fall

by Nicci French
3.6 out of 5 stars (26)  £4.63
The Memory Game

The Memory Game

by Nicci French
3.2 out of 5 stars (17)  £5.99
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Michael Joseph Ltd (28 Jun 2001)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0718143876
  • ISBN-13: 978-0718143879
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.3 x 2.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 709,623 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
Many are the writers who tackle the field of the psychological thriller, but few create such a dark and compelling world as Nicci French. The Red Room inhabits the same sinister universe as such previous thrillers as The Memory Game and the book that many consider to be her finest to date, Killing Me Softly. French is concerned with the unstable surface of reality and the malign undercurrents of human behaviour forever threatening to disrupt the tenuous happiness of her characters. In The Red Room, her particular priority is the queasy attraction of the forbidden and the terrifying.

Kit Quinn has a job that many would find too disturbing to tackle. Her beat is the world of crime scenes, hospitals for the criminally insane, the grimmer prisons. In her latest assignment, colleagues in the police ask for her help in what initially appears to be a straightforward murder inquiry, in which a youthful runaway has been killed near a London canal. At first, the evidence points to the killer being a man who wounded the murdered young woman, but Kit has learned that the appearance of things in a deceptive world may not be trusted. As she descends deeper and deeper into a brutal underworld of lost and exploited youngsters, she finds herself as at risk as the young victims she is dealing with.

What makes this more than a conventional thriller is the author's fastidious examination of her heroine's tortured psyche. Kate has suffered terrible wounds in a savage attack, and there is something unhealthy about her immersion in the kind of life that left her with terrible scars. French is particularly sharp on her efforts to push her life back into some kind of conventional order. The Red Room has the customary dangerous voyage to the centre of a mystery that is par for the course for the genre, but this is also a study of the troubled psyche of a damaged heroine, and her dark world view:

Beware of beautiful days. Bad things happen on beautiful days. It may be that when you get happy, you get careless. Beware of having a plan. Your gaze is focused on the plan, and that's the moment when things start happening just outside your range of vision ...

--Barry Forshaw

Review
"* 'Nicci French has taken the genre by storm.' Mirror * 'Truly chilling... suspenseful and stylish, this breezy read does not miss a beat.' Daily Mail * 'A nail-biting can't-put-it down read... tightly constructed and thoroughly gripping' Elle"

See all Product Description

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
Check a corresponding box or enter your own tags in the field below
(6)
(2)
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Red Room
52% buy the item featured on this page:
The Red Room 3.8 out of 5 stars (26)
Beneath the Skin
15% buy
Beneath the Skin 4.0 out of 5 stars (53)
£7.19
Killing Me Softly
15% buy
Killing Me Softly 3.9 out of 5 stars (92)
£6.39
The Safe House
10% buy
The Safe House 3.3 out of 5 stars (23)
£5.49
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

26 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:
 (9)
3 star:
 (6)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (26 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars First-rate crime story, 10 Nov 2002
By kimbofo (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: The Red Room (Paperback)
I'm a big fan of Nicci French (the non de plume of a husband-and-wife team) and had been looking forward to The Red Room for quite some time. Her previous titles have all been chilling page-turners, but this one was slightly disappointing. While the story was well written with first class characterisation and a satisfying surprise ending, I didn't feel it was quite as gripping as The Memory Game, The Safe House or the superb Killing Me Softly. But this is a minor quibble. All in all, the novel is a first-rate crime story in which Dr Kate Quinn, recovering from a traumatic attack, helps the police with the investigation into the murder of a young homeless woman. The prime suspect, a creepy and pathetic no-hoper, is the very same man who attacked Kate. But she feels that he is innocent of this murder and does all in her power to prove that she is right.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Really disappointing, 8 Aug 2001
By A Customer
Killing Me Softly was a fantastic book and got me hooked on Nicci French. Beneath the Skin, The Safe House and particularly the Memory Game were all brilliant too, so I had no doubts about rushing out to buy The Red Room. Unfortunately, The protaganist, Kit, has the depth of a puddle and there is no drama or real intreague until the last few pages. The previous books had me sneaking to the toilet at work just to read a bit more, but with the Red Room I was tempted to give up, when after three quarters of the book, absolutely nothing had happened. Trust me, Killing Me Softly or The Memory Game are the great books Nicci French should be remembered for. This one should be buried....
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Nicci French at her best, 5 Aug 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: The Red Room (Mass Market Paperback)
Having read killing me softly and beneath the skin I took this on holiday and couldn't put it down. The plot has many twists and leaves you guessing until the last few pages. I would love to see Dr Kitt Quinn in other stories as I loved her wit and personality. A must for any avid thriller reader.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars That good I read it in a day!
I'm up to date now with Nicci French. I have read all except 'What to do When somebody Dies'

A good rounded thriller that kept me hooked. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Sterile

5.0 out of 5 stars well-written and compelling
From the first page I was hooked. I especially loved the opening paragraphs about the nature of "accidents" - how true it was and how well-written. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Alison Mallaghan

3.0 out of 5 stars good holiday read
Found this book in the Wrens pub in Leeds
with a book crossing sticker on it
(a website where you say who had had it and where it ended up!)
www.bookcrossing. Read more
Published on 19 Aug 2006 by eatsshootsandreads

4.0 out of 5 stars Really gripping.
I enjoyed this book alot, I was dark and creepy but still beleiveable enough to enjoy. I have read it three times now and still find myself absorbed.
Published on 26 Jul 2005 by Lisa

4.0 out of 5 stars Quirky writing, gripping read
This is the first Nicci French book I've read and I was thoroughly hooked. While many such thriller novels are written to a recipe and seem to have a sameness about them, this... Read more
Published on 9 Dec 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Red Room - Nicci French
The Red Room is superb, Nicci French is one of the best authors I have recently read. I made the mistake of starting the book at bedtime and so was up all night reading as she is... Read more
Published on 25 Mar 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I have read in the last five years
I began reading Nicci French's books about 4 years ago. I would call myself a big fan if their work and in particular of this book. Read more
Published on 17 Jan 2004 by jaclynkelly

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for all Nicci French Fans
This was the first Nicci French book I had bought and what a way to be introduced to a new author. The book has an unbeatable pace which means you are unable to put it down. Read more
Published on 5 Nov 2003

4.0 out of 5 stars pleased
I am a new reader to nicci french's books and have to say I'm very pleased by this book.I did not expect much from it as i had never heard about the authour before. Read more
Published on 28 Mar 2003 by Emma

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as great as I thought it would be
This book is, all in all, a good read, and would make excellent throw-away-holiday-reading. However, there are parts I wish were considered a little more. Read more
Published on 22 April 2002

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Feedback

Health & Beauty at Amazon.co.uk

Elemis Resurface and Renew Skin Care Gift Set of 4 Products
From soap to shavers, massagers to mascara, stock up on your daily essentials or truly pamper yourself.

›Discover Health & Beauty

  

More From Nicci French

Until it's Over

Until it's Over by Nicci French

What a pleasure it is to be in the capable hands of the... Read more
£6.99 £3.99

 

Up to 50% off Dental Care

Braun Oral-B Professional Care 6000 Rechargeable Toothbrush - Pack of 2
Put a sparkle in your smile with up to 50% off selected Oral-B and Philips rechargeable toothbrushes.

›Up to 50% off power toothbrushes

  

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

  
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates