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The book opens with two women shopping in New York, looking for bargains. The scene quickly shifts to suburban Connecticut where contractor Glen Garber and his eight-year-old daughter learn that Sheila, Glen's wife, has been killed in an accident that the police blame on her. Drunk, she was parked on the down ramp of a busy highway and a car hit her. Two others were killed as well. Glen and his daughter have to adjust to this but Glen cannot believe that his wife was at fault. His daughter overhears some things at her best friend's home that make Glen wonder more. Tension builds as people blame Glen for the tragedy, students harass his daughter in school, and his world seems to be collapsing around him. This story is told partly by Glen in the first person and partly in third person omniscient. Ordinarily I think changing the point-of-view is not very effective, but it does work in this book. Perhaps it is because it is an audio book and the reader makes it quite clear who is speaking at any time. The characters are very well done. They are human and have faults as well as virtues. Glen, the protagonist, is confused and unhappy about his wife, but determined to care for his daughter. When attacked verbally and occasionally physically, he fights back and slowly begins to understand what is happening around him. He puts together facts and information to come up with the answers to his questions. The other characters are secondary to Glen but believable in their own right. The setting is very realistic. Suburbia is comfortable, intolerant of those who are different or those who act outside the expected code of behavior, and very self-satisfied. This could be any town in that part of the country. It has clean streets and comfortable homes. All the unpleasantness, the garbage, the negativity is hidden from the spectator's view. Under the surface, of course, there is selfishness, pettiness and intolerance just as there is everywhere. The plot moves along quite chillingly. The story lulls the listener and then shocks and surprises her at every turn. This seems to be an ordinary family in an ordinary town until the listener learns of the greed and voracity beneath the surface. The story moves expertly through incident after incident, twist after turn until the listener is brought to a truly satisfying denouement. The audio version as read by Peter Berkrot is especially enjoyable. The reader adds so much to the story, portraying each character and reading each description in such a way as to make them seem most believable. This is an absorbing and intriguing story. § Sally Fellows is a retired history teacher with an MA in history and an avid reader of mysteries.
Reviewed by Sally A. Fellows, November 2011
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