The Cruel Mother (Virago Crime) [Paperback]

Janet LaPierre (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 16, 1990 | Series: Virago Crime

A psychological thriller written by the author of "Children's Games". Meg and Vince desire a peaceful holiday where he can recover from a bullet wound. But on a highway in Idaho, people and their plans collide, rebound and regroup in terrifying ways.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Virago Press Ltd (August 16, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853811416
• ISBN-13: 978-1853811418
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,551,665 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enforced bonding time., November 29, 2002

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Cruel Mother: A Meg Halloran Mystery (Paperback)

Meg Halloran is less than pleased when her policeman boyfriend Vince announces that he's bringing his troubled 16-year old niece Cass on their long-awaited romantic vacation. Her grumpiness turns to fear as she and Cass are kidnapped. They struggle to keep their kidnappers happy while trying to understand who is responsible. Was it an act of Cass' troubling boyfriend? Was it an enemy of Vince's from one of his cases? Was it something else altogether that sparks the kidnapping?

The characters in the novel are reasonably interesting and the story itself is well-written. The book suffers a bit from the two plots (that of the kidnappers and the kidnappees) and LaPierre's inability to bring the two together in a realistic way. As a reader, you can see the idea behind the book, but it doesn't work terribly well as a book.

Still, promising enough to keep an eye out for other books by the same author.