It's a steamy, sultry day of a hot Mediterranean summer. Terence, a rich London lawyer, his beautiful wife Cathy, a doctor, and their young daughter Lucy are relaxing on the yacht that is Terence's pride and joy. Suddenly, a storm whips up from nowhere and Terence battles into the night to save the lives of his family. Battered and bruised, they limp into Dubrovnik harbour. Unable to go ashore until daybreak, Cathy tends to her daughter's injuries when a large motor-cruiser pulls up alongside the yacht. Its wounded skipper, the enigmatic Kurt, comes aboard the family's yacht also seeking medical help. As the darkest hours slowly tick by, Terence and Cathy have to listen to Kurt's disturbing story. At sunrise, Terence is a changed man, desperate to cling to his wife and daughter, and accordingly willing to change his life - a life about which, it transpires, he has been somewhat less than candid.

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Product details

Paperback: 230 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; 1st edition (3 April 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0747578494
ISBN-13: 978-0747578499
Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 25.4 x 4.7 cm
Customer reviews: 19 customer ratings
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 8,471,541 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #390631 in Contemporary Fiction (Books)
- #454443 in Literary Fiction (Books)

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Review

"A brilliantly creepy and worryingly enthralling debut" -- Daily Mirror, April 2006

"I was gripped and enthralled" -- William Boyd

"a chilling psychological thriller by a debut writer of whom we will certainly hear more." -- The Daily Mail, May 12, 2006

"an astounding talean astonishing and gripping story" -- The Guardian, April 2006

"will keep you mesmerised until you have to separate the smokescreen from the final punchline." -- Time Out, April 2006

Synopsis

5 star		21%
4 star		37%
3 star 0% (0%)		0%
2 star		23%
1 star		18%

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Nick Roberts

A page-turner.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 October 2019

Verified Purchase

Pacy story line but passges of improbability.
Very good description of storm conditions.

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LH STEWART HOWITT

Very good.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 January 2018

Verified Purchase

Enjoyed this hugely, I kept wanting to know more, parts of it sad in Kurt’s quest for his wife, but intriguing. Unsettling end.

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Laurence Smith

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 May 2017

Verified Purchase

A very good read

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Hard-marker

One Star

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 October 2014

Verified Purchase

Absolutely dreadful.

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P. Gill

very good

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 July 2007

This is, I believe, the authors first book and it is very good it must be said. The story is essentially a mariners tale about a young family who sail through a terrible storm overnight. when the arrive in the harbour the following morning the meet an enegmatic skipper from another vessle who is injured. he climbs aboard their ship and the woman on board, who is a doctor, treats him while he tells them the most incredible story.

However, the book is written in such a way that I felt the authors first language could not be english (although this is not the case apparently). the language used and the story told by the skipper also seemed a little too elaborate at times, given the actual context of the story itself. The ending of the book is however enthralling and leaves you aksing lots of questions about how and why and so on.

a very good read

2 people found this helpful

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Unputdownable!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 June 2009

I've just read this book on holiday and it made an ideal leisure read - a compelling page-turner with plenty of tension and surprises, not least the final twist. It would make an excellent film.

My only criticism is that most of the novel is a story being recounted by one of the characters, a German, who has a surprisingly good command of English and tells the story in a very literate way! It didn't quite come across as authentic from that point of view. Nevertheless I enjoyed it and think it's a good achievement for a first novel.

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Batsinthebelfry

Grippped with shock!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 December 2006

This is the kind of book I love!!! I just couldn't put it down. I found myself picking it up and reading a few pages whenever I had a few minutes. Absolutely awsome. You will be gripped and you just won't be able to stop reading! I'm into the last chapter now and I don't want it to end.

A fantastic debut. Utterly compelling read. It will linger in the back of your mind for days after you've read it. Five stars. FANTASTIC!!!!!!

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Joy

Exceptional thriller

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 June 2011

I have to say this is one of the best books that I have read in a very long time - picked up for 50p at my granddaughter's school summer fair - written by an author I had never heard of! I could not put it down until I had finished it - I was enthralled from the very beginning and totally stunned at the ending! An exceptional book by an exceptional author.

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