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Beneath the Skin |
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| Beneath the Skin by Nicci French Warner Books (Mysterious Press) 378 pages, May 2000 ISBN 0892967269 Reviewed by Phillip Tomasso III Three women with seemingly nothing to link them together share one thing in common: A serial killer wants all three of them dead. First there is Zoe, a down-to-earth and loveable elementary schoolteacher. While on her way home from the market, she witnesses a purse snatching. The thief, attempting to make his escape, heads directly toward her. Carrying a watermelon in a grocery bag, Zoe swings the mammoth fruit as if it was a bat and knocks the thief out. Becoming an instant celebrity and hero, Zoe’s story is printed in newspapers and covered by television stations. This sudden leap to notoriety attracts more attention than Zoe intended. She wants the entire affair forgotten. When she begins receiving threatening mail, she tells the police who brush it off as part of being famous. Next there is Jenny, a rich snob who doesn't take the threatening letters she is receiving seriously at all. She is too busy overseeing the remodeling of her castle-sized home, too busy with her children and their nanny, and too busy catering to a husband who hates her. And last but not least, we have Nadia who takes the threatening letters very seriously. During the ongoing police investigation, Nadia falls in love with the detective assigned to investigate the letters, and the affair that follows only complicates the situation. Beneath the Skin is split into thirds as Nicci French tells each of the women’s stories in the first person. The three main characters have completely unique personalities and distinguished, well-defined backgrounds. French is poetic with her prose, vivid with imagery and well versed in dialogue. The tale moves like a roller coaster traveling at the speed of light, with unexpected twists, dips and many dark tunnels. When the ride finally comes to a highly climactic end, you won’t want to get off. |
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