Godina izdanja: Ostalo
ISBN: Ostalo
Jezik: Engleski
Autor: Strani

Tender Prey by Patricia Roberts
očuvana,283 strane,ocena 4

Through the first half of this 1930s kidnap/murder investigation-novel, there`s promise of a masterful blend of psychology and suspense in the understated manner of Ruth Rendell or P. D. James; and, even though Roberts` debut thins out routinely in its later sections, she emerges as a firm, quiet stylist with a bright future. "I bother only with widows." So begins the opening chapter here--as Robert Wallace, the novel`s psycho-villain and sometime narrator, starts filling in his grim life-story: abandoned by his widowed Belfast mother, separated from his brother and sister, later betrayed by his wife, Wallace has become a New York con-man with a loathing for widows and a perverse attraction to little girls. And Wallace`s latest victim is vulnerable, gullible Mary James, whom he has married, lied to. . . and now robbed of her younger daughter, lovely ten-year-old Junie. Where has "John James" (Wallace`s alias) disappeared to with little Junie? That`s the question for Detective Jim Hackett, a moody sort with a half-commitment to his childless, adulterous mistress. Hackett has few clues--most of them teased out of the memory of Junie`s smart, spunky older sister Ali--until Mary receives a grisly package: a carved doll in an Altman & Co. box, dressed in Junie`s clothes and topped with Junie`s real hair. And then, while Wallace`s crazed narration confirms the fact of Junie`s murder (and dismemberment), Hackett follows the Altman`s clue to Wallace`s identity, deduces his whereabouts from Ali`s recollections, and heads for the killer`s hideout. . . where a violent showdown ensues; but it`s too late to prevent Wallace`s second murder. Unfortunately, Roberts never succeeds in making Hackett`s inner turmoil fully convincing--so his traumatic final chapters (an outburst of savagery, a hard-won commitment to love) don`t quite satisfy. The final section of suspense, too, is shakily handled: the irony and tension of a similar twist in James` Innocent Blood are missing here. Still, the deduction is sound, the tone is chillingly restrained, Ali is an engaging presence--and readers partial to anatomy-of-a-crime fiction will find this a flawed but strong example of the genre, with effectively underplayed period-N.Y. atmosphere.