From Publishers Weekly
British author Gallagher's unrelenting novel of terror, set on an unprepossessing stretch of English coast, moves at a breakneck pace. Car dealer Frank Tanner's wife, Carol, is missing. Carol's 26-year-old sister, Molly Gideon, a recovered junkie, is sure her cold, violent brother-in-law has killed Carol. One suggestive piece of evidence in the case is a painting by Jack, Frank's six-year-old son, showing a sprawled body with an emergent rainbow that just might represent a shower of arterial blood. The boy insists that it is "a picture of mummy." Cold-blooded murders follow in the race to the climax. Chalk up another winner—brief, merciless and punchy—for Gallagher (
The Spirit Box).
(Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Convicted thief and former heroin addict Molly Gideon has a job and a flat and is trying to build a new life. She believes her sister, Carol, has been brutally murdered by her brother-in-law, Frank, despite how innocent he appears to the police. To Molly and Dr. Valerie Gartin of the Child Trauma Unit, there is a message hidden in Molly's traumatized young nephew Jack's painting: the "painted bride" as he calls it, is his mother--Carol--throat slit, bleeding on the kitchen floor. Dismissed from her job (is Frank behind that?) and in a "dodgy" borrowed Datsun, Molly sets out to gather evidence against Frank, taking Jack and his sister "on holiday" for their safety. Will police believe her interpretation of the painting? Will she protect the children and secure justice for Carol's death? Gallagher's compelling thriller doesn't miss a beat, not even for the occasional puzzling (to Americans) Briticism, and should win him fans eager to read his next outing.
Whitney ScottCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
