In the Cut [Paperback]

It's refreshing to read a book where the narrator (and for that matter, the author) is expansively, demonstrably intelligent. It's refreshing not to have to read a rehash of Patterson or Cornwell or Kellerman. Moore's style and voice are decidedly different, authentic and full of life.

I recommend this book wholeheartedly, though don't expect to be charmed. It's lovely like Silence of the Lambs (the book) was lovely. It's riveting like Lovely Bones was riveting. Which is to say although it is most certainly harsh, it's nonetheles cruelly captivating, therefore a worthwhile read.

Frannie, the novel's narrator, is an attractive 35 year-old divorcee who lives in a two room apartment on Washington Square. She teaches creative writing at NYU to a group of inner-city "low achievement teens" with high intelligence. She is also a connoisseur and scholar of language and is writing a book on street slang and its derivatives. Frannie takes chances. She is a sexual risk taker. However, she lives in her own private world where she spends an incredible amount of time pondering the nature of language, which leaves her vulnerable to her surroundings...and reality. Frannie is not at all street savvy. And her near-sightedness allows her to disengage even more from the potentially dangerous world in which she lives. One late afternoon in a neighborhood bar she makes a trip to the ladies room and inadvertently walks-in on a couple engaged in an intimate act. The man's face is obscured by shadow but she does notice that he has a unique tattoo on the inside of his wrist, (she has her glasses on). A few days later a NYC homicide detective, James E. Malloy, seeks Frannie out for an interview. There has been a brutal murder in the neighborhood. The victim is the woman Frannie saw performing the sex act in the bar. The evening Frannie saw her was her last.

Malloy takes risks also. He totally defies all rules about relationships between a detective and potential witness and acts on the tremendous sexual attraction between Frannie and himself. Malloy epitomizes the "tough guy with a badge," his frank blunt language adding to Frannie's turn-on...

Ms. Moore increases the suspense when Frannie is violently attacked on a dark street late at night. Then another murder is committed and the tension becomes almost too palpable. The climax is shocking. Warning - don't read the end of the book first. This is not a novel for the faint of heart. If you are a reader who is repelled by expicit sex or vividly portrayed violence, this is not for you. On the other hand, if you appreciate a well crafted, beautifully written erotic thriller, this one is excellent and original!

JANA