Land of the Living [Hardcover]

A horrifying premise catalyzes this fast-paced, suspenseful thriller: A woman wakes up in a darkened room, bound, disoriented, unable to recall the recent past. She is terrorized and abused by a strange man who taunts her with the names of other victims. But for Abbie Devereaux, a 25-year-old Londoner, the nightmare really begins after she escapes. Recovering in a local hospital, she must confront the fact that no one believes her story. Her doctors think it's all a fantasy, "a cry for help." Det. Insp. Jack Cross can't find a crime scene. And when Abbie's well enough to go home, she discovers that her life-her job designing office interiors; her boyfriend, Terry; the flat they shared-has been destroyed, but she hasn't a clue as to how or why. Has she had a breakdown? Is she still in danger from the kidnapper? The bulk of the novel is about Abbie's inventive efforts to reconstruct her life and discover what really happened to her. French (Killing Me Softly) does a good job of making this unlikely scenario believable. But the larger authorial challenge is making Abbie, an average and unambitious young woman who has clearly made some bad choices in her life, into someone resourceful enough to solve the mystery. The book is psychologically astute about terror-Abbie's panic and bewilderment throughout her ordeal are rendered with precision-but her more basic motivations don't always ring true. Still, it's a suspenseful and harrowing tale, occasionally dipping into the truly gruesome, with powerful narrative drive.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

*Starred Review* Widely divergent in terms of plot, French's previous three stand-alone thrillers--Killing Me Softly (1999), Beneath the Skin (2000), and The Red Room (2001)--share a high level of suspense and three compelling heroines. Her latest, French's best work yet, adds another fascinating protagonist while managing to up the ante on suspense, generating a near-unbearable level of dramatic tension. Londoner Abbie Devereaux awakens to find herself injured, hooded, and bound, the captive of a psychotic man whom she cannot see. After a daring escape that almost kills her, she finds herself in the middle of a new nightmare: no one believes her story. Not even her friends. With no memory of the several days preceding her kidnapping, she lacks the ammunition to convince them. As Abbie goes about trying to reconstruct her lost week, she fights the panic of knowing that her unknown captor knows her. Painstakingly piecing together her life, Abbie tries desperately to figure out who kidnapped her--and why. Another brilliant effort by an author who never disappoints. Jenny McLarin
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Yet another riveting psychological thriller from this reliable author. The protagonist awakens to find herself trussed up like a chicken, hooded, and at the degrading mercy of a stranger she cannot see, only hear. He has obviously done this before to other women and says he has killed them all. She manages a nightmarish escape but the horrors have only just begun. Despite her emaciated appearance, the authorities conclude her story is invented. She has amnesia and the more she finds out about herself, the more her world becomes beset with pitfalls. French captures immaculately the disorientation, the lack of people to trust, the bewilderment at the chilling pieces of jigsaw. Altogether they make an ace of a spine-tingling thriller, to be backed by national newspaper advertising. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Abbie Devereaux wakes in the dark. She is hooded and bound, with no idea where she is or how she got there. Kept alive by a man she never sees, his only promise is that eventually he will kill her - like the others. But Abbie has spirit and bloody-mindedness on her side. She counts the seconds spent alone and plots her survival. Above all she dreams of returning to normal, careless, everyday life - the land of the living. Grasping at memories, Abbie recalls snatches of her identity, her career, and her disintegrating relationship with her boyfriend. Is there a connection between her real life and the voice in the darkness? And how can she survive in a place where fear becomes madness and the effort to survive seems too much to bear?

Nicci French is the pseudonym for the writing partnership of journalists Nicci Gerrard and Sean French. The couple are married and live in Suffolk. There are eight other bestselling novels by Nicci French: The Memory Game, The Safe House, Killing Me Softly, Beneath the Skin, The Red Room, Land of the Living, Secret Smile and Catch Me When I Fall, all published by Penguin. Find out more about the books and the authors at www.niccifrench.co.u

Imagine escaping from an ordeal so heinous you couldn't ever have imagined it and having no one believe you. Add an inability to remember the somewhat unsettled days leading up to being kidnapped, and the disbelief of friends and police makes enough sense that you almost begin to doubt yourself. Anne Flosnik's first-person narration is reflective of Abby's disorientation and frustration as the story begins with her being held in a frightening place with no sense of where she is. She clearly presents the gamut of emotions Abby faces as she tries to recreate her history and ensure a safe future. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.