'Brilliant'SUNDAY TIMES'Compelling and unnerving'SPECTATORThis first collection of stories by Lawrence Osborne perfectly showcases his talent for tension,atmosphere - and characters out of their depthA nave young linguist sent to the forests of Irian Jaya is manipulated into betraying her mission by a ruthless and disturbed pastor. A deaf girl hired as a maid by a wealthy New York couple turns the tables on her obliviously abusive employers and answers blackmail with blackmail. A psychiatrist treating a girl in rural England becomes ensnared in a love affair that threatens to destroy her career; while a young couple on holiday in Oman accidentally witness a killing,which leads to their being hunted as well. An entomologist at a remote hotel in the Andamans survives a tsunami and uses a dead body to further her study of ants.Collected here for the first time,Lawrence Osborne's stories,like his novels -'elaborate and intricately plotted dances macabres'(The Times) - feel like nightmares set against calmly and meticulously observed backgrounds. With their nods to Daphne du Maurier and Roald Dahl,these nine long-form stories explore characters lost in the shadowed borders between the mundane,the fantastical and the violence of the natural world.
Publisher: Vintage PublishingISBN: 9781781090824Number of pages: 352Weight: 468 gDimensions: 222 x 144 x 33 mm
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Brilliant... clear but strong,full of mood and meaningCompelling and unnervingIf you appreciate stories with stings in the tail,you will enjoy this fiendishly cunning new collection... Osborne not only has the knack of keeping readers guessing,but the rarer gift of drawing them into the interior world of his characters
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