On the surface another tale of adultery and ethics in North London disintegrating into violence and recrimination, this very promising debut proves to be so much more - a riveting tale of menace and mystery, of emotional disengagement and passionate action, moral vacuity and physiological sensitization, and written in a smooth, calm prose into which crashes very occasionally the most startlingly disturbing sentence. Wilcken is 35, a young Englishman living in Paris, and with this book already he makes a strong claim on the book world's attentions as a writer with a real future in the Ian McEwan-to-William Boyd market.
Book Description
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
A self-absorbed British PR rep for a human rights activist group slowly begins falling apart in Wilcken's taut debut, a diabolical thriller that echoes the best suspense of Patricia Highsmith with a cheeky nod to Dostoyevski. Matthew Bourne is the first-person narrator who temporarily ditches his campaign to keep a controversial African poet from being executed after an older colleague named Christian collapses upon learning that his attractive wife has died in a car accident. Bourne takes him to the hospital and identifies her body for the police, but he becomes so disturbed by the incident that he inexplicably picks up an attractive PR colleague at a party, even though his girlfriend Marianne has just become pregnant with the couple's second child. Bourne's behavior gets even stranger when he impulsively trails Marianne to a midafternoon appointment and learns that she is having an affair. After tracking the couple for several weeks, Bourne confronts Marianne's lover and accidentally kills him. He then calls Christian to the crime scene, and the two men take the victim to a remote location outside of London to dispose of the body. The excellent character writing carries the day here, but Wilcken is also a masterful storyteller who uses a combination of plot twists, Bourne's growing guilt and his deteriorating relationship with Marianne to notch up the tension and transform an unlikable protagonist into a fascinating antihero. This is a remarkably accomplished debut heralding the arrival of a noteworthy talent. Wilcken's literary career may take as many fascinating twists as this brilliant book.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.From Booklist
*Starred Review* In this stunning debut, Wilcken creates a beautifully written, intricately crafted, multilayered story that can be read as a psychological thriller, a commentary on the superficiality of modern life, an Everyman story, or a modern morality tale. On whatever level, the book is both moving and mesmerizing. Matthew Bourne's life is changed the day he is asked to identify the body of a dead colleague's wife. That cataclysmic event transforms him from a good-looking man with a loving partner, a sweet daughter, plenty of friends, and a good job that supports a cause he believes in to a haggard, hopeless shadow who loses his grip on life. Matthew's odd lapses of judgment alienate him from everyone, and his erratic behavior drives his fiancee and daughter into their own private hell. It is a relief to Matthew when the consequences of his actions finally bring him face to face with his fate. But there's no relief in sight for the reader, who will be moved, troubled, and disturbed by this deeply affecting book. Emily Melton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
CHRISTIAN'S WIFE WAS KILLED IN A CAR CRASH YESTERDAY. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
CHRISTIAN'S WIFE WAS KILLED IN A CAR CRASH YESTERDAY. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By B.Lue
Format:Hardcover
I too thought this book left too many loose ends and unanswered questions. On the other hand it was a great psychological study and felt "real" on so many levels that most modern day novels do not. In other words-if you are looking for a great plot look elsewhere,perhaps a John Grisham. I did not particularly like the protagonist in this story,but I did feel sorry for him in a way. He had perhaps led too charmed a life to know how to deal with adversity.In the end I felt cheated in some ways-yet strangely deeply affected in other ways, as tho I had been handed a small window with which to view another person's soul. And maybe a recurring thought of mine,that adversity can truely enrich us and be a building block forming character and developing coping skills. But the adversity had sadly come to late in this character's life.
By A. Ross
Format:Hardcover
Wilken's debut novel excels as an example of a certain kind of crisp, emotionally detached style that for some reason seems to be particularly prevalence among modern British male writers. So it's just as well that the story centers on an emotionally empty, self-absorbed human rights worker who gradually self-destructs over the course of the slim book. At work, Matthew Bourne is given stewardship of a campaign to free a dissident African poet facing execution in his homeland, while at home his French girlfriend becomes pregnant with their second child. However after he's called upon to ID the body of his colleague Christian's wife, something slowly start to eat away in him and he casually falls into a torrid affair and neglects his work.
Wilken creates a lot of mystery and tension in a limited space, but the payoff isn't quite there. His on again, off again guilt certainly rings true, but his spiraling descent is more annoying than it is disturbing. Why is Matthew's girlfriend acting increasingly odd, why does their three-year-old daughter fear "the man with glasses" who attacks her teddy bear, why does his colleague's dead wife's face haunt him, why does his fate suddenly seem inextricably bound to that of the poet? Some of these are answered, and some aren't. While I often like films that don't explain every last detail, here there are too many unexplained threads. (This may be because the narrative constraints of film's 120 minutes make such absences more necessary and thus palatable, whereas novelists have all the space they need to explain anything they wish to.) For example, a number of times Christian tries to tell Matthew something important, but is never able to. Why repeatedly stage such a scene only to never reveal its meaning? Another time, Matthew and Christian see each other in a train station, pause, and then walk past each other wordlessly. Again, as if we are in a David Lynch film, the reader is left wondering what that was all about.
All this is not to say the book is not well-written, because it is-however, it suffers from a kind of "is that all there is?" ending. Indeed, I could see it making a much better film than novel.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.7 out of 5 stars
3 reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Well-written, But Lacks Payoff
Jan 24 2002
By A. Ross
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Wilken's debut novel excels as an example of a certain kind of crisp, emotionally detached style that for some reason seems to be particularly prevalence among modern British male writers. So it's just as well that the story centers on an emotionally empty, self-absorbed human rights worker who gradually self-destructs over the course of the slim book. At work, Matthew Bourne is given stewardship of a campaign to free a dissident African poet facing execution in his homeland, while at home his French girlfriend becomes pregnant with their second child. However after he's called upon to ID the body of his colleague Christian's wife, something slowly start to eat away in him and he casually falls into a torrid affair and neglects his work.
Wilken creates a lot of mystery and tension in a limited space, but the payoff isn't quite there. His on again, off again guilt certainly rings true, but his spiraling descent is more annoying than it is disturbing. Why is Matthew's girlfriend acting increasingly odd, why does their three-year-old daughter fear "the man with glasses" who attacks her teddy bear, why does his colleague's dead wife's face haunt him, why does his fate suddenly seem inextricably bound to that of the poet? Some of these are answered, and some aren't. While I often like films that don't explain every last detail, here there are too many unexplained threads. (This may be because the narrative constraints of film's 120 minutes make such absences more necessary and thus palatable, whereas novelists have all the space they need to explain anything they wish to.) For example, a number of times Christian tries to tell Matthew something important, but is never able to. Why repeatedly stage such a scene only to never reveal its meaning? Another time, Matthew and Christian see each other in a train station, pause, and then walk past each other wordlessly. Again, as if we are in a David Lynch film, the reader is left wondering what that was all about.
All this is not to say the book is not well-written, because it is-however, it suffers from a kind of "is that all there is?" ending. Indeed, I could see it making a much better film than novel.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Thought Provoking
Aug 14 2002
By B.Lue
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
I too thought this book left too many loose ends and unanswered questions. On the other hand it was a great psychological study and felt "real" on so many levels that most modern day novels do not. In other words-if you are looking for a great plot look elsewhere,perhaps a John Grisham. I did not particularly like the protagonist in this story,but I did feel sorry for him in a way. He had perhaps led too charmed a life to know how to deal with adversity.In the end I felt cheated in some ways-yet strangely deeply affected in other ways, as tho I had been handed a small window with which to view another person's soul. And maybe a recurring thought of mine,that adversity can truely enrich us and be a building block forming character and developing coping skills. But the adversity had sadly come to late in this character's life.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Trying to just live it.
Jun 6 2007
By Norliza Ismail
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
omg! I pulled this out of the shelves to read because we had a storm and tv with the internet is off. And I never thought it is this much of a page turner.
It's about a life of Matthew Bourne, a human right activist who is trying to save the life of Jarawa. In the midst of trying to do this, his own life is falling apart. He has live-in artist partner with a daughter, and on the side a mistress of his own. He found out his partner is sleeping with somebody else.
it was kind of annoying at firts because it took me a few chapters to realized what's exactly is going on. but it's a good past time reading. some plot really do pull you into the book itself.
It's about a life of Matthew Bourne, a human right activist who is trying to save the life of Jarawa. In the midst of trying to do this, his own life is falling apart. He has live-in artist partner with a daughter, and on the side a mistress of his own. He found out his partner is sleeping with somebody else.
it was kind of annoying at firts because it took me a few chapters to realized what's exactly is going on. but it's a good past time reading. some plot really do pull you into the book itself.
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 3 reviews
3.7 out of 5 stars
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
