Friends for Life [Hardcover]

Carol Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1996

After becoming friends in a British hospital, five women find themselves being stalked by a psychotic killer, someone who knows them so well that she must be among their number. A first novel.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this adroitly plotted first novel, set in contemporary London, British literary agent Smith works a keenly observed story of five women into a murder thriller. Beth, a divorced caterer, has been having an affair with Oliver, a married banker. Vivienne, a former "Debutante of the Year," happens to be married to Oliver and doesn't know of the affair. Georgy, an American photographer on assignment in London, is infatuated with Beth's ex-husband. Without any obvious links (at first) to the first three are Sally, the sexy, freewheeling good-time girl from Australia, and Catherine, a veterinarian's receptionist whose famous mother cruelly squashed her one chance at love. Smith nimbly charts the ways in which the disparate lives of these women intersect until they all meet, by chance, in a gynecological ward, where they become friends. She generates suspense with a violent prologue in which an unnamed woman is attacked in her kitchen and maintains the tension with short, italicized chapters detailing further murders (with the players remaining anonymous). By the time the main plot acquires the sinister tone of the prologue and interchapters, every character has come so vividly to life that the reader is hooked, ready to be reeled in as Smith subtly orchestrates the series of events that brings the canny and experienced killer to the fore in a protracted and graphic conclusion. Major ad/promo.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

When five very different women meet as patients in a London hospital, they begin to develop friendships among themselves. These tentative bonds are threatened, however, as they discover that their lives are already intertwined through the men they know. Suddenly one of the women dies and another is viciously attacked, and it becomes clear to the reader that they are being stalked by a killer. Although the book starts a bit slowly as the women are introduced, the suspense begins to build as the crimes are committed. First-time author Smith plants several clues, so it is not too difficult to figure out the identity of the psychopathic murderer. The otherwise astute women seem surprisingly unaware of the danger and must be saved by the men who piece together the mystery and ride to the rescue. In spite of this disappointing turn, Smith's debut remains promising.?Barbara E. Kemp, University at Albany Libs., N.Y.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 426 pages
• Publisher: Warner Books; 1st edition (April 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446520047
• ISBN-13: 978-0446520041
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,303,282 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing, intelligent & unconventional mystery, April 22, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Friends for Life (Hardcover)

I read this book under the British title "Darkening Echoes". An intelligent, compelling and shocking mystery, while not literary, it is written a notch above popular fiction. The main characters are three- dimensional and psychological sleuthing (on the part of the reader) is possible. It is totally unconventional within its genre and this is what gives it room to develop the characters in a way seldom found in mystery novels. You neither know until well into the book who is to be murdered or yet who is the murderer or even if there definitely will be a murder although presuming there will be is part of the tension as you read the book. This is a delicious read and I firmly hope that this book is not watered down or altered to the lowest common denominator of American reader that only seeks escapism, blood, sensationalism or mindless comedy as T.V. producers often do when trying to adapt British material for the target American audience These characters are identifiable as real and ordinary people and thus easy to get involved with and care about. The female characters are strong and should not be offensive to women with a disgust for traditional romantic plots that demean or trivialize women. I give it a 9 in its genre. Only P.D.James, and Peter Ackroyd and established literary mystery classics rate a 10. I am eagerly waiting for her next book "Kensington Court" publ. Apr 97 by Little, Brown in the U.K. and hope that you publish this as well & don't have to order her next book all the way from Britain. P.S. There was a long waiting list at my library in Canada for "Friends for Life" a.k.a. "Darkening Echoes"

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful summer quick read!, June 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Friends for Life (Mass Market Paperback)

I enjoyed this book immensely. The weave of characters and their lives amongst the murder and mystery was very well done. Carol Smith wrote a fine story. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good mystery and also wants to "get involved" with the characters lives. I will read her work again.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Friends for Life/Darkening Echoes, March 21, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Friends for Life (Hardcover)

This book was also published in the U.K. under the title "Darkening Echoes".