'From the accomplished Canadian novelist and short-story writer, an all-consuming tale of child abduction . . . An assured, perceptive, deftly delivered story' KIRKUS starred review 'Gowdy cleverly makes us wait for the kidnapping we know is coming, forcing us to watch as Ron moves closer and closer, like a shark circling its prey . . . A page-turner that finds tension not in the obvious question (Will Rachel be rescued?), but in more personal ones: Will Rachel grow to trust Ron? Will Ron give in to his yearnings? Will Nancy betray Ron and help Rachel?' NEW YORK TIMES REVIEW OF BOOKS 'Immensely well-observed . . . the acute psychological line demanded by material of this sort gets trodden with an unobtrusive delicacy' INDEPENDENT 'A thoughtful and elegantly written novel' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH '...this Canadian writer tells a nail-biting story of child abduction with both skill and wonderful quirkiness' Lionel Shriver DAILY TELEGRAPH 'A striking feature of Gowdy's novel is the homage it pays to John Fowles's first novel, The Collector. Structurally and stylistically, however, Gowdy takes her own line. More conventional and much less chilling than Fowles's, the third-person narrative switches between the viewpoints of Celia, Ron and the essentially good-hearted Nancy. Gowdy is a graceful stylist with a strong inclination to explain her adult characters' actions in terms of their childhood experiences: each of the main protagonists, including, of course, Rachel herself, has suffered some kind of fracture of love while growing up . . . [a] thoughtful, elegantly written novel' Jane Shilling in the SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'Gowdy switches her viewpoints between Ron, Nancy and Celia. Nancy's complex, needy character fascinates, while Rachel makes a passive, cipher-like victim; but it is the subtle intensity of Ron's manoeuvring that gives this slow-paced thriller its terrific suspense' James Urquhart in the FINANCIAL TIMES 'Gowdy writes as if she's on a sinking boat and needs to throw out all the dead weight. The only words that survive are the ones that matter . . . the result is a page turner' Chelsea Cain - SCOTSMAN 'A masterful tale' BELFAST TELEGRAPH 'Immensely well-observed . . . the acute psychological line demanded by material of this sort gets trodden with an unobtrusive delicacy' INDEPENDENT 'A gripping novel, tense and haunting, with heroic, misguided characters' WATERSTONE'S BOOKS QUARTERLY
