DIE A LITTLE
MEGAN ABBOT
Pocket Books £6.99
This book has taken it's time to get a UK publication following its American success but the timing could not have been better as it was recently announced that it will become a major motion picture.
The first thing I want to talk about is the cover - a wonderful noir tinged painting with the main title appearing in a font that could have come from one of the B-movies of the 40's and 50's. Beneath the title we are promised a cocktail of jealousy, obsession and danger. The book's presentation is enough to entice any casual browser to pick up a copy.
They say - you shouldn't judge a book by its cover but thankfully the story contained within these wonderful boards is a damn fine one. Three parts crime noir mixed with deeply realised characters, an hint of madness, a flavouring of melodrama and a liberal dashing of page turning suspense. Ms. Abbot has certainly cooked up a potent meal of a book that leaves the reader gorged and satisfied.
Told from school teacher, Lora King's POV the book sees the narrator standing by while her beloved brother, Bill, a cop, meets Alice Steele after they are involved in a minor car accident. A whirlwind romance follows and the couple are promptly married.
The first person narrative is cleverly ambiguous and for much of the book the reader is left with a feeling of unease at Lora's seemingly obsessional relationship with her brother. Incest is hinted at between the lines and when Lora starts thinking there is more to the seemingly perfect wife his brother has chosen the reader is unsure whether her feelings are merely a delusion brought about by her jealousy or have some basis in fact. However the two women get on pretty well and soon Lora gets Alice a job teaching at her own school. However things soon start to take a dark turn and Lora' suspicions about Alice's mysterious past start to grow.
The discovery of pornographic pictures of Alice starts Lora investigating her new sister-in-law's past. A past that is perhaps best left hidden.
The book had me racing to the end and just when I thought I'd cracked the story it pulled the rug from beneath me.
A great read.
13 comments:
I heard someone else rave on this. Sounds like a "must get."
Glad you liked it (as you might expect).
I'm just starting Megan Abbott's The Song Is You and so far it's excellent. Thanks for the review. Die A Little is on my reading list...
Don't think Song for you is available over here in the UK yet. I'll get it when it is.
Pattinase - you must be very proud. This is a wonderful book and I'm sure great things are ahead.
Megan's work is getting better with each book, so you've got more to look forward to.
James - you're no slouch yourself.
Got to admit that I'm tempted to give it a go.
And it has a cover that harkens back a few decades.
Thanks for highlighting it.
Picked up this book today - well recommended, Gary.
Currently on page 104 - though it jarred a bit on page 82 with the use of a very un-fifties four letter word - then twice by Lois and once by Mike.
Ray,
Glad you're enjoying it - to be honest the language passed me by, so engrossed in the story was I. It's a bloody good read. Let me know what you think when you finish it.
I think Queenpin is probably her best so far that is till the next one comes out.
RE BRUCE - I'll get this and the others mentioned by David and James when they come out in the UK. My partner's reading Die a little at the moment and she's loving it. she usually only reads Karen Slaughter and writers of that kind of graphic crime.
I'm interested to know what Ray thought as he must have finished the book by now.
I really enjoyed the slow-burn of Die A Little. And the atmosphere within the text is palpable. I reviewed the book a couple of weeks ago on my blog. Queenpin is my next Abbott book. And, if you're interested, Abbott edited a great anthology: A Hell of A Woman: An Anthology of Female Noir, from Busted Flush Press.
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