- Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
- Publisher: Plume; Reprinted edition edition (Jun 21 1993)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0452270707
- ISBN-13: 978-0452270701
- Product Dimensions: 17.5 x 10.7 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 136 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,577,668 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
A Dark-Adapted Eyefirst novel under the pseudonym Barbara Vine by the British author Ruth Rendellwon the MBA Edgar. This is the second, a mystery like all her works, transcending the genre. Evoked in beautifully ambient writing, the setting is a rural estate, Wyvis Hall, which Adam Verne-Smith inherits at age 19. Inverting the word "someplace," Adam names his eden Ecalpemos where he revels through a summer with four companions. The months drift by until a horrible event scatters the lotus eaters, and Adam sells the property. For 10 years, the former friends live secure in the belief that they alone know their terrible secret. Then the present owners of Wyvis Hall dig a grave for their dog in the pet cemetery on the grounds and unearth human remains. Making headlines, the news stuns the Ecalpemos conspirators, long since established as proper London citizens. The author virtually defies one to pause between incidents in the exquisitely controlled developments that peak in a marvel of irony that no reader could foresee.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
Vine is the pseudonym of noted mystery author Ruth Rendell, and this second Vine novel repeats the quality we've come to expect from this master writer. The story centers around a house and its young owner, 19-year-old Adam. When we meet Adam, however, he is ten years older, unhappily married and the devoted, obsessive father of a baby girl. Adam learns that two skeletons have been found at the house, which he had sold shortly after inheriting it. Slowly, Vine reveals the events of Adam's first summer in the house and what Adam and his friends did ten years before. We share Adam's anxiety as the police try to determine who the bodies are. The suspense is double-sidedwhat happened and why, and how will Adam deal with whatever materializes. There is a nifty surprise at the end, and Vine strings us (and Adam) along with consummate skill. Louise A. Merriam, L.E. Phillips Memorial P.L, Eau Claire, Wis .
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A mystery that keeps you guessing,
By Erowida (CA, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Fatal Inversion (Mass Market Paperback)
Unless you are aware that the book itself IS a mystery, and read the crucial 2 questions on the backof the book and continually remind yourself of them, the first 3 quarters of the book seem like theyre heading in the direction you want and expect them to...but if youre not alert and pondering, the end will grab you like a string...the persn you don't expect, the person who is accused of killing the person who you didnt expect...its all baffling for a traditional mystery, but it even has a happy ending to go along with it!
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent read,
By Sylvain Nicoulaud (Montpellier, France) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A FATAL INVERSION (Hardcover)
Very good book which I recommend to anyone but could anybody explain the final twist to me please?
1.0 out of 5 stars
Painful experience,
By A Customer
This review is from: Fatal Inversion (Mass Market Paperback)
First, there are only two reasons I even completed the book: I wasn't going to let a bad writer get the best of a good reader, and I didn't have much other choice for books written in English at that time. Contrary to the other reviewers' opinions, I think the characters show very little development. They remain self-centered hedonists the entire time and do the things self-centered hedonists do. Ms. Vine tried to give the novel a dark and foreboding tone, but only succeeded in suffocating the reader with a wet blanket of boredom. While she could have redeemed the book with better descriptions of the settings and changes in that, she only made half-hearted attempts to do so. I have not read any other Vine/Rendell books, but my advice is to pass this one until you've read another. I hope it is just one bad book amongst some good ones.
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