The Beach Road [Paperback]

Sarah Diamond (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2003

To the casual eye, teenagers Jane and Beverley are opposites. Wealthy, beautiful and clever, Beverley seems to have everything while disturbed and lonely Jane has just seen her mother die in appalling circumstances, and has come to live with her grandparents in the same small town as Beverley - by the sea in Underlyme, Dorset. But Beverley's life isn't so perfect after all. Behind the glossy facade, it's anything but. And when something terrible happens to her on holiday, she comes home to find there's nobody left to turn to - except Jane herself. Initially, Beverley finds solace in Jane's total adoration. But gradually she begins to realise there is something different, something dark about Jane. Little does she know just how different, just how dark ...

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sarah Diamond was born in 1976 and grew up in Weymouth before studying English Literature at Reading University. She now works as an advertising copywriter and lives in Streatham.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Orion; First Thus edition (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 075284329X
• ISBN-13: 978-0752843292
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,421,644 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 Entertaining and Surprising Psyhchological Thriller, April 13, 2004

By 

Veronica (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Beach Road (Paperback)

The Beach Road is the subtly threatening crime debut from Sarah Diamond. The story is about two very different girls in a secondary school in England. The first is Jane Sullivan, a lonely and in many ways odd girl who has only recently discovered her mother dead. The second is Beverly Green, a gorgeous and popular `golden girl' who keeps the strained nature of her home life secret from all her friends. The two girls are brought together when Beverly goes through a terrible experience whilst on holiday which makes her susceptible to being flattered by Jane's adoration when she comes back home.

The plot is interesting and unusual and really draws you into the two girls different worlds. You can't help feeling sorry for Jane, who is the classic underdog with a bad start in life, although I found it harder to warm towards Beverly because she seemed quite nasty and snobbish at times. The writing style of the author was very good and really engrossing. The ending was quite startling and different to what you might expect.

Overall The Beach Road is an entertaining read. I'd recommend it to those who like psychological thrillers and are willing to read something which does not end particularly happily. I would also urge readers to try out Sarah Diamonds next two books, Cold Town and Remember Me. I thoroughly enjoyed these two books and think she is going from strength to strength.

JoAnne

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, December 8, 2010

By 

passiflora "fandjcotton" (Santa Rita, Guam USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Beach Road (Paperback)

I ordered this book because I had very much enjoyed the author's book, "Spider's House" and expected something along the same lines as another psycho-thriller/mystery. "The Beach Road" was terrible. The chapters were way too short and the overall story and characters extremely depressing. It was annoying to try and follow the characters as the story jumped from each terse chapter to the next to a completely predictable ending. I had to struggle to finish this book and hoped the story would improve, which never did. In all fairness, I understand this was the author's first published novel and Spider'S House came along later. Read Spider's House instead. Hopefully more of her books are more like that one.

1.0 out of 5 stars I Hated This Book. I would not Recommend it to Anybody., November 17, 2010

By 

fairy-whispers (Qld, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Beach Road (Paperback)

The majority of this book was boring. With the exception of one incident on holiday, it started off slowly and concentrated on school yard bullying and family problems until a (very) brief bout of excitement at the end. I do not recommend this book.