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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Poet, novelist and Fulbright fellow Hill (Lucy Boomer) brings seductive intensity to this story of quiet desperation and the corrupting effects of obsession. Jack Stone, a 60-year-old Los Angeles screenwriter down on his luck and seeking inspiration, journeys to England for what he hopes will be a creative reawakening. Instead, all he finds is an endless supply of rain, pubs and bad food. Things get interesting when he stumbles upon Sheepheaven Farm, where Robbie Barlow keeps a bed and breakfast with his wife, Maggie, a tall woman with long auburn hair who moves like the dancer she used to be. Restless and magnetic, Maggie exudes sexually charged charm toward Jack, some 20 years her senior, even as she tends to cranky Robbie and their school-age son. As his stay wears on, Jack grows increasingly fixated and, when authorities threaten to slaughter the Sheepheaven herd in the face of an epidemic, he finds the inspiration not just to begin writing again but to make a move for Maggie. Those seeking a more action-packed Hard Case (such as Max Allan Collins's The Last Quarry) may be disappointed with Hill's deliberate pace, but he holds his own in the pulp genre, lending graceful writing and three-dimensional characters to some risky dalliances and gratifying last-act plot twists. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
The publisher has made itself a going concern by showing a shrewd eye for reprinted pulp fiction and originals that are often as good as the reprints. Robbie's Wife, a neat update on The Postman Always Rings Twice, falls into the latter category. Jack Stone, a middle-aged L.A. screenwriter whose career is in need of a fresh start, pulls up stakes and heads to rural England, where he plans to hole up until he's written something that makes "a piss-pot full of money." But inspiration proves elusive--that is, until he stops at a bed-and-breakfast run by enigmatic sheep-farmer Robbie Barlow and his ethereal, unhappy wife, Maggie. Hill (Lucy Boomer, 1992) does a nice job of developing Stone's dangerous obsession, and his ear for local dialogue demonstrates his wide range as a writer. Setting the story against the mad-cow epizootic is a deft stroke, too, adding oppressive atmosphere and timely detail. This might be a bit brooding for some crime fans, and the ending could use more punch, but all in all, it's well worth an evening. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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flying monk, car hire agency, cuppa tea Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Jack Stone, Robbie's Wife, Sheepheaven Farm, Precious Little, Los Angeles, Robbie Barlow, Land Rover, Precious Care, Alfie Precious, Will Stryker, White Church Farm, Lyme Regis, Bobbie's Wife, Clive Owen, Shepherd's Pie, Nick Monaco, Stone Sir, Maggie Barlow, Michael Stryker, Kings Head, Robble's Wife, Detective Hoad, Billy Gray Browse Sample Pages:
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flying monk, car hire agency, cuppa tea Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Jack Stone, Robbie's Wife, Sheepheaven Farm, Precious Little, Los Angeles, Robbie Barlow, Land Rover, Precious Care, Alfie Precious, Will Stryker, White Church Farm, Lyme Regis, Bobbie's Wife, Clive Owen, Shepherd's Pie, Nick Monaco, Stone Sir, Maggie Barlow, Michael Stryker, Kings Head, Robble's Wife, Detective Hoad, Billy Gray Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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