As Far As You Can Go [Hardcover]

Lesley Glaister (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2004

Opportunity for the Right Applicants. Housekeeper/companions required. Would suit young couple. Remote, rural location. Cooking, cleaning, gardening and caring duties. Applicants must be self-sufficient and resourceful. It seems like the perfect job for Cassie and Graham. She wants an adventure before she has a child. A year away might convince Graham to settle down, curb his roving eye. Graham seeks inspiration for his painting. He wants Cassie but he wants freedom too - a balancing act as difficult as the ladder trick he tries to perfect. This could be the answer. But Woolagong Station, at the edge of the desert, is eeriely further away from civilisation than they expected. Larry, their smooth, enigmatic employer, runs his house in a discomfiting fashion. Why is there no radio? Why is there no post from home? Why does Mara, his wife, live sedated in a shed? And how does Larry intuit things he could not possibly know? Everything warps under the blazing Australian sun - their sense of direction, their sex drives, even their sense of right and wrong. And the freedom to roam soon begins to feel like a dangerous prison Brilliantly evoking the paranoia and menace lurking behind the most innocent seeming landscape, Lesley Glaister writes of human behaviour at its most edgy and unnerving. As Far As You Can Go sees her at the top of her form - darkly erotic and utterly riveting.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Glaister, along with Ruth Rendell, has almost cornered the market in horror stories.' The Times 'Skeletons fairly rattle in her fictional cupboards.' Independent 'Terrifying...Glaister truffles her way down to the grim heart, where we find out what makes people tick like time-bombs.' Daily Telegraph

About the Author

Lesley Glaister teaches a Master's degree in Writing at Sheffield Hallam University. She is the author of eight novels which include Honour Thy Father, winner of the Somerset Maugham and a Betty Trask award, Easy Peasy, Sheer Blue Bliss and most recently Now You See Me.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Clearway Logistics Phase 2-3 (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747570957
• ISBN-13: 978-0747570950
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,586,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling and scary Outback adventure, April 16, 2010

By 

Ripple (uk) - See all my reviews

This review is from: As Far as You Can Go (Paperback)

If you are planning a trip to the Australian outback, you might want to give this book a wide berth! For everyone else, it's highly recommended.

Cassie and Graham's relationship is not really going anywhere. Then Cassie sees an advert for a job on an Australian farm and they decide to go for it. This might not have been such a great plan! You can feel the isolation and heat of the outback in this gripping and tense book - they are cut off from the outside world and modern communications (handy, that - but a believable scenario) so when their employer Larry and his mentally disturbed wife, Mara turn out to be not quite what Cassie and Graham are expecting, they are trapped. When Larry suggests that Cassie apply some personality altering medication to achieve what she wants from Graham you know it's gone too far.

Glaister's plotting is superb and she's particularly strong on relationships (as evidenced in her other books) and this is a frightening and gripping ride. It's one of my favourite Glaister books - and that's high praise as she is always reliably thrilling as a writer.

5.0 out of 5 stars Creepy and compelling psycho-thriller, February 20, 2007

By 

Lynn S - See all my reviews

This review is from: As Far As You Can Go (Hardcover)

Cassie and Graham's relationship is on the rocks - Graham's infidelity is a cover-up for his immaturity and lack of self-esteem. He is haunted by the fear that he's not good enough for Cassie and frustrated that his career has never worked out as planned. When Cassie answers an ad for a position in Australia that requires a live-in couple it initially sounds like the opportunity of a lifetime. They leave their lives in England behind, set off for Australia and that's when the trouble starts.
For starters, the farm is far more isolated than they were led to believe. The wife of their boss, Larry, behaves strangely. Is she genuinely mentally ill or does Larry keep her drugged? Mail from home never seems to arrive and the feeling of being watched never leaves them. . .

I really enjoyed this book, Glaister excels at building up a creeping feeling of unease which keeps you turning the pages. I'd never heard of this author before but I'll definitely check out her back catalogue. I suggest you do the same!