Laura Clayourne is an ordinary, middle-class lady reviewing books in her spare time whilst her incredibly successful husband is at work. She is also about to give birth, and is having second thoughts about her life: what has she achieved? What can she say is actually hers? What is merely owned by her husband? What can she offer this baby?
Mary Terrell is living in a run down apartment, still wanted for her part in a violent, brutal terrorist cell from the 60s, of which she is one of the only survivors. She read an innocuous, innocent message in the paper, and believes it to be from her lover, and leader, "Lord Jack". She must meet him, and bring him the baby that she promised him. Mary Terrell is quite devoted, and quite mad...
This book had legitimately the most horrifying, upsetting, brilliant opening chapters I have ever read. I knew from those first few pages that Mary Terrell would be one of the best villains I have ever had to follow. She is mesmerising, and unpredictable in the best way.
It uses tension and suspense in the perfect way: you know that the worlds of these two women are going to collide, and that when they do it will be explosive, catastrophic and oh so very dangerous. You're waiting, seeing how it'll happen, getting into their heads, following their lives and waiting for it to shatter. Mary is a force of nature, but Laura becomes one...
Even when it settles into its groove of a chase/road movie and starts adding in some other characters and side plots, I was already hooked and actually kind of welcomed them, if only as a respite from the Mary chapters where I was legitimately concerned for the safety of certain people... The way this book is written, it could have been a downer ending, and without spoiling anything...
Yeah, this was the first Robert McCammon I read. Needless to say I enjoyed it. Give it a whirl.
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