A twisted love story set in an elite boarding school that is as darkly compelling as it is subtle and profound.
Colin McAdam lives in Montreal
A tense literary whodunit set in a prestigious Canadian boarding school, McAdam's second novel (after Some Great Thing) delivers suspense and cunning psychological insight. Chapters alternate between the recollections of Noel, a coldly intelligent loner, and the stream-of-consciousness of Julius, a handsome, popular athlete whose girlfriend, Fall, vanishes one day. Unstated but implicit is Fall's fate at the hands of one of the boys, but, as in many literary mysteries, the plot is secondary to the graceful prose and characterizations. The male characters are drawn with precision; Fall less so, as befits their objectification of her, though the relationship between Fall and Julius is depicted with a bittersweet charm. Julius's point of view is particularly well-done, conveying the inner turmoil of a lovestruck teenager. Noel's memories of their senior year, meanwhile, subtly reflect his emotional distance from others while suggesting a solution to the crime. The book is pleasingly paced and absorbing, and likely to appeal to fans of Arturo Perez-Reverte and Jess Walter. (June) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
A sensitive, honest and horrifying portrait of everyday life in an
elite, expensive boarding school -- Josh Lacey * Guardian *
The intensity of the passions depicted in the novel is not so much
matched by the writing itself as generated by it... In it we
experience, like a new discovery, the appalling kinship between
uncontrollable love and equally uncontrollable lovelessness -- Paul
Binding * Times Literary Supplement *
Experimental and certainly ambitious -- Doug Johnstone * Big Issue
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