Until It's Over [Hardcover]

Nicci French (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 17, 2009

Astrid Bell has known most of her housemates for years, but while they have a tangled history together—romantic pairings, one-night stands, friendships—each of them also has a past.

Astrid is on her way home one day when her neighbor accidentally knocks her off her bike. Bruised but not broken, her roommates help her home. The next day, they learn that same neighbor was beaten to death only hours after the accident. Each of them tells the police what little they know and are dismissed—until Astrid stumbles over another body. Two brutal murders in less than a week is more than just bad luck.

As the difference between friend and stranger grows harder to judge, and as the line between attraction and danger thins, the housemates—unsure if there’s a killer in their midst—guard against becoming his next victim in this steamy and suspenseful thriller from internationally bestselling author Nicci French.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Here’s another psychological thriller from the popular author of Land of the Living (2003) and Losing You(2008), among many others. Astrid Bell is a bike messenger in London. Not long after a neighbor knocks Astrid off her bike with the poorly timed opening of a car door, the neighbor is found dead. Astrid and her roommates are interviewed by the police—Astrid, in particular, is grilled several times. She can’t help feeling the police think she’s somehow involved in the murder, and when, shortly thereafter, she stumbles on another dead body, she’s sure there has to be something more than coincidence at work. Novels by Nicci French—the pseudonym of the husband-and-wife team of Nicci Gerard and Sean French—promise three things: engaging characters, an intricate story, and a sultry atmosphere. This one delivers all three, in spades. --David Pitt

Review

Praise for Nicci French and Losing You

“Lose yourself in this smart nail-biter of a tale about a mother’s desperate search for her missing teenage daughter.”
—People

“Seamless first-person account. . . . This engrossing read captures the importance of the often overlooked and underappreciated minutiae of everyday life while commanding a deeply personal reaction in readers.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The novel’s greatest strength is its cool-eyed portrait of an English village.”
—The Washington Post

“What gives Losing You its chief distinction . . . is its unusually emotive color and its flinty protagonist, who, like any mother, understands that no one can possibly care as much about her child as she does. Nina is the parent we’d all like to be under duress, and I find I’ve become nearly as protective of her as she is of her daughter.”
—Salon

“Nicci French . . . know[s] exactly how to maintain the tension . . . You live through every nail-biting minute.”
—The Guardian (London)

“This latest offering is sure to keep readers furiously flipping pages through the night.”
—Booklist

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (March 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312375395
• ISBN-13: 978-0312375393
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,068,862 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars and he seemed so normal!, April 12, 2008

By 

Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Until It's Over (Paperback)

A group of young people are sharing a large house in London, each with a bedroom of his own and with a shared kitchen/living room. The house is owned by Miles and each of the tenants pays rent and does a certain amount of cleaning and tidying. There's a mixture of personalities sharing this space, both professional and non professional with one of them even working as a bicycle courier. Some tensions DO exist as there is a certain amount of bed hopping but everything proceeds smoothly until the first major incident when the courier is knocked from her bike and on the next day, the motorist who accidently knocked her over is found murdered. From that moment, serious events take place with two more murders, this time accompanied by the ritualistic slashing of the victim. It's a very good, exciting and fast read with lots of psychological twists and turns.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two-view psychological thriller set in London, April 8, 2009

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Until It's Over (Hardcover)

Bike messenger Astrid Bell shares a house with a passel of assorted friends, including an ex-lover, a prospective lover, a dope dealer, and Pippa, who has a new lover most every night. Astrid narrates the first, longer section, and the murderer narrates the second section, so don't skip ahead.

It all starts, or so it seems, when Astrid is accidentally knocked off her bike by a neighbor, a middle-aged woman who doesn't seem to really fit the scruffy neighborhood. The next morning, the woman is found dead in the alley, an apparent robbery victim.

The passing police interest in the housemates intensifies when one of Astrid's customers is also murdered, this time in a gruesome, ritualistic fashion.

Meanwhile the housemate situation is crumbling. The house's owner and his girlfriend - mostly the girlfriend - want everybody out. A certain amount of bickering and acrimony is only natural and there's a third murder and an arrest before they all go their separate ways and the murderer gets to tell his side of the story.

A pseudonym for the husband-and-wife team of Sean French and Nicci Gerard, French does a fine job of psychological suspense and misdirection.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent, March 20, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Until It's Over (Hardcover)

In London Astrid Bell loves her life as a bike messenger and living with six roommates in a dumpy house on Maitland. She especially likes her flatmates who are best buddies to her though she knows each one of their flaws and idiosyncrasies.

Riding her bike on her way home from work, Astrid collides with the car door of a neighbor Margaret Farrell. Her pals assist a somewhat battered Astrid home. Soon after the collision, someone kills Margaret, beating her to death in what the cops believe was an out of control rage. The police question the seven mates, but each has an alibi. Soon a second homicide tied back to Astrid occurs followed by another. The police suspect a stunned Astrid who has no explanation as to why someone would kill for her over minor indiscretions.

The tale is broken into two interrelated segments with the first setting the stage mostly starring Astrid and the second how the acts were performed by the killer. Readers know early on who the serial killer is and why; yet the beauty of Nicci French's talent is that the suspense keeps intensifying until the end. Astrid is a terrific young woman whose life turns upside down from the moment she collides with the car which was unknown at that time to her or her buds. That incident apparently set in motion the murdering spree. Fans will enjoy this engaging thriller wondering UNTIL IT'S OVER what will happen next to a beleaguered Astrid.

Harriet Klausner