Suspense

A superb novel of suspense that alternates between the terrifying present and the complex past that led up to this moment. A woman, sleeping near her two young children in a Colonial home in Massachusetts town, hears what she thinks are footsteps. Could there be anything scarier? Except this is an old house, always creaking. Perhaps it’s her imagination. Then, thanks to the nightlight, she sees a man, a huge man, slowly climbing the stairs, as “his fingers wrap the banister like white spider legs.” What should she do? A blizzard rages outside, making escape impossible. Then she remembers that the house has a tiny, hidden room, and she hustles the children and herself into it, while still worrying how they will be able to survive. Sierra keeps the adrenaline pumping, but takes breaks from the primary narrative to explore the woman’s life, from a less than happy marriage to an abusive relationship with her father-in-law to a patriarchal society that refuses to believe her. This unique, thinking-person’s thriller would be great for a book discussion, there’s so much here to unpack.

Kudos to Edwin Hill for a book so sophisticated, suspenseful, and shocking. It’s set in Monreith, a small, coastal suburb south of Boston where everyone knows, and oftentimes loathes, everyone else. It’s also where restaurateur Laurel Thibodeau is brutally murdered and her husband—it’s always the spouse, right?—is the prime suspect. Especially when his massive gambling debts, the type that need an insurance policy to offset, become public. But while Laurel’s murder sets things in motion, the novel is really centered on six friends whose lives are intertwined in the most disturbing of ways. This includes super-wealthy shrink Farley Drake, who loves to blur the friend/client line. Georgia Fitzhugh, a Unitarian minister, also privy to many personal lives, and whose husband, Ritchie, has moved out and is now living with Farley. And Max Barbosa, the handsome chief of police, Ritchie’s childhood best friend, who leaks information like the proverbial sieve while lusting after Georgia. And that’s just for starters! The novel takes place in one late summer day, culminating in a birthday dinner for one of the six that yields yet more tragedy. Hill takes some big risks here—he moves the narration among the group, playing with time as well—and we often get to see the same scene from different points of view. But what could have been a bore works wonderfully, thanks to the tightness of the prose, the tension of the story, and the credibility of the characters. Mute that cell phone and curl up for several hours of great suspenseful reading.