Fabulous debut, from an author who has gone to the top of my Authors To Watch list: great sense of place, appealing characters, intriguing mystery, which is brought to a very satisfying conclusion. A character named Maura!! (Sadly deceased, the victim in a cold case that Cormac Reilly is investigating. But I so seldom see my name in print, I'll take what I can get.)
My one caveat, call it a Trigger Warning: I don't think it's a SPOILER to say that one of the main characters discovers that she is pregnant at the beginning of the novel, and spends the rest struggling over her strong inclination to end the pregnancy. I can think of friends who would otherwise love this novel, who would find her attitude deeply troubling.
BUT ... but, but, but ... like many of the best detective fiction/psychological thrillers out there, at the moment, McTiernan is thoughtfully and cleverly juggling the more superficial elements of genre fiction (the setting, the characters, the puzzle, the solution) with deeper themes. How badly are people damaged by an abusive childhood? How many kinds of unhappy childhood are there? Is there any escaping?
True confession: I read this in just over 24 hours. I reckon that's about 8 hours "nose in a book" time. (as my Dad used to say, as in "Has she got her nose in a book again!!??!!") Completely addictive, engrossing.? Yeah, you might say that. Do yourself a favor, drop WHATEVER you are doing, and get your hands on a copy of this, right now. You will thank me.
My one caveat, call it a Trigger Warning: I don't think it's a SPOILER to say that one of the main characters discovers that she is pregnant at the beginning of the novel, and spends the rest struggling over her strong inclination to end the pregnancy. I can think of friends who would otherwise love this novel, who would find her attitude deeply troubling.
BUT ... but, but, but ... like many of the best detective fiction/psychological thrillers out there, at the moment, McTiernan is thoughtfully and cleverly juggling the more superficial elements of genre fiction (the setting, the characters, the puzzle, the solution) with deeper themes. How badly are people damaged by an abusive childhood? How many kinds of unhappy childhood are there? Is there any escaping?
True confession: I read this in just over 24 hours. I reckon that's about 8 hours "nose in a book" time. (as my Dad used to say, as in "Has she got her nose in a book again!!??!!") Completely addictive, engrossing.? Yeah, you might say that. Do yourself a favor, drop WHATEVER you are doing, and get your hands on a copy of this, right now. You will thank me.
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