George Foss had never quite got over his
brief but intense relationship with Liana Decter in his first semester at
college, which finished abruptly with her disappearance and an unsolved murder
(or two).
When he sees her, twenty years later, in a
Boston bar he thinks at first it is just another of the fleeting resemblances that
have plagued him over the years, causing a double-take before disappointment
kicks in. But not this time; it is her, and she’s here looking for him.
She needs his help to get out of a pickle -
to return some money she has stolen from the man who employed her as a PA (and
mistress). It’s dirty money so the police aren’t after her, just an apparently homicidal
private investigator.
George knows he should walk away, but can’t.
The old attraction is still there, still strong, and anyway his current life is
uneventful, and this meeting has highlighted how empty he has felt since he
lost her.
So he steps into an unfamiliar world of escalating
lies, violence and double-dealing. As he did twenty years ago - the story, in
the classic fashion, intersperses events of those undergraduate days that also
led to danger and deceit.
The twists and turns are well crafted and
the book is a real page-turner as the reader, who throughout is privy only to
George’s movements, thoughts and actions seeks, as he does, answers and the
truth (which are not always the same thing).
This is Peter Swanson’s debut novel and I
for one will look out for his next.
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