Lynn and Barry Schulman moved their family to the leafy suburb of Riverside, New York, to be surrounded by family and old friends and escape the danger of city life. But when a headless body-which turns out to belong to Lynn's oldest friend-floats to the surface of the river, they realize Riverside may not be the sanctuary they were seeking. Instead, it's a town fraught with tension and simmering with sexual intrigue. Amid the McMansions bought with boom-economy bonuses and SUVs driven by soccer moms lurks a creepier sense of paranoia and a more sinister web of violent crimes than city dwellers could ever dream of.Stalked by Lynn's old boyfriend and terrorized by a menace that seethes beneath the seemingly placid routine of commuting, play dates, and white-wine evenings, Lynn and Barry engage in a primal fight for their lives and their future together. In this vivid and powerfully imagined thriller, Peter Blauner taps into the darkest fears of contemporary America. This bone-chilling story is further proof of what James Patterson has said of Peter Blauner: 'Nobody writing suspense novels does it as well.'
When I was a kid, I quickly realized I didn't have much talent for throwing the baseball or playing a musical instrument or anything like that. What I had was a desire to write - which, of course, is not the same as having talent. That didn't stop me from focusing and honing in, practicing my writing the way other kids practiced free throws or 100-yard sprints.
Pretty early on, it occurred to me that I didn't want to run in the same race as everybody else anyway. A writer should have has her own slant on things. So I decided to go my own way. Even though I write what are classified as "crime novels," I don't have granite-jawed heroes or spunky heroines who always triumph over the bad guys. There are enough of those in the bookstores. I write about people with considerable flaws and consuming struggles, trying to make sense of their lives. I don't expect you to cuddle up to them or want to invite them to your Christmas dinner. But I think they have a lot of heart. Not in the sentimental sense. But in the raw, pulsing, heaving, still-beating-in-spite-of-everything sense.
I certainly don't mean to sound high-minded. After this many years in the game, I don't think a novel (particularly a "crime novel") can - or even should try to - cause great social change and upheaval. Most people just want a good story that can help pass the time on a plane. And that's my goal as well. But every once in a while, it can maybe also give you a slightly different way of looking at the world.
