Customer Reviews

Surface Tension

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It is generally possible to judge how much I liked a book by noting the number of times I close it, finger marking my page, and simply stare at the cover in awe. This isn't just to marvel at it in wonder, but to delay that inevitable moment when I will sadly have to put it down, finished. With this book, I did that a LOT.

In the long hot summer of 1976, six friends spend the long days relaxing lazily on the lawns of Grays Orchard, a beautiful country house, unworried about the world outside their little commune. But then their idyll is shattered by a brutal murder, and none of their lives will ever be the same again.

25 years later, artist Gus Ridley still lives at Grays Orchard with his wife Carol, who knows next to nothing about the cathartic event that ripped the group asunder. That is, until Jenny arrives. Jenny is the daughter of Gus's half sister Harriet, who now lives in Australia, and she wants Gus to tell her about the events which led up to her father's murder. When she doesn't get satisfactory answers, Jenny storms off, vowing to seek out other members of the group, including Raymond, Gus's one-time best friend, who now is the leader of a sinister cult. But Jenny's visit has changed Gus, and Carol can no longer stand to live in the shadow of the secrets Gus is obviously keeping from her. So, she, too, goes in search of answers. It's a search that will lead her into terrifying danger, and towards revelations both shocking and horrifying, that she will wish she never uncovered...

Perfect. If I had to pick one word to describe this book, that would be it. I was impressed enough with her last book, "Improvising Carla", but if I thought that was good, I was in for a real treat with this one. The writing is excellent, the characters superb once again, and the settings (ranging from Cornwall to Spain) are brilliantly realistic. The plot has a subtle Vine-like grip, which doesn't let go right until the conclusion, which is shock piled upon emotional shock. It's a book that is at times moving and at times terrifying, and it challenges our perceptions about life and the people that we meet, and shows us that sometimes the truth is best left unknown. As a mystery novel, I have read few better, and as a psychological thriller, it is peak of the art. There are surprising twists throughout the entire book, and the final solution is completely unexpected.

This book isn't available in the US, but don't let that stop you. Get it. Get it now. Get it any way you can, any where you can, at any cost. It's completely worth it. On a scale of 1 to five, an approximation of this book's quality is least 7. This is the best book I have read in many, many months.

I have enjoyed other novels by Joanna Hines and began Surface Tension with some anticipation. The beginning was no disappointment, although there was a sense of déjà vu until I realised that Ruth Rendell, writing as Barbara Vine, used a similar setting for her novel, A Fatal Inversion.

The heroine, Carol, a today's woman, partner in a hands-on building company was a sympathetic character and I found the first five chapters riveting. The murder that occurred during her husband Gus's stay with his young friends at Grays Orchard in the summer of '76 presented a tantalising mystery. It was at this point that, for me, Ms Hines appeared to lose the plot.

The involvement of this very level-headed businesswoman, together with the hard-nosed but sullen daughter of Gus's half-sister, with a totally off-with-the fairies' sect called The Heirs of Akasha, seemed unlikely. Carol, attending the first meeting of the sect, bumps into Tim, the son of her Gus's first girlfriend, in the first of a series of coincidences. What follows was to me quite beyond belief.

Why Carol should become involved in helping Tim get his child away from the sect or why one of the inner sanctum with everything to lose and nothing to gain should try to help him was never explained to my satisfaction.

Characters change from 'goodies' to 'baddies' and vice-versa without warning, and few are likeable. The leader of the sect appeared to achieve his large and wealthy following with nothing much more than his hypnotic eyes.

I found this a disappointing and implausible tale especially in view of Joanna Hines' great first novel, Dora's Room.