Hurting Distance

August 4, 2008
In Hannah’s intense second thriller (after Little Face
), Det. Sgt. Charlie Zailer and her sidekick, Det. Constable Simon Waterhouse, pursue a serial rapist who preys on successful single career women and sells tickets to “live” rape parties. Naomi Jenkins, a sundial maker prone to panic attacks, reports her married lover, Robert Haworth, missing after he fails to show up for their weekly tryst. Later, in order to speed up the search, Naomi informs the police that Robert raped her three years earlier. Simon finds Robert at home, near death, after possibly being bludgeoned by his wife. But there’s far more going on, and making matters more dodgy, aside from a growing victim list, is the foolish fling Charlie has with the owner of a chalet-style resort in Scotland. Full of clever plot twists, this satisfying shocker about “the victims and the perpetrators of violent crimes” suggests how obsessive love, while not a crime, is certainly within hurting distance.

August 1, 2008
British crime novelist Hannah brings back Detective Simon Waterhouse and his female boss, Sergeant Charlie Zailer, from her best-selling Little Face (2007). Successful businesswoman Naomi Jenkinsis convinced something serious has happened to her married lover, with whom she is obsessed. When she suspects the police are not taking her seriously, she ups the ante by reporting him as a rapist, basing details of heraccount on an actual experience. It turns out, however, that Naomis story bears a striking similarity tothe stories of other rape survivors. Charlie and Simon realize they aredealing with a serial rapist andan emotionally damaged accuserwhile they also attempt to work out their own complicated relationship.Like Karin Slaughter in her Grant County novels, Hannah is interested in exploring thedark side of intimacy and does not shy away from depicting graphic sexual violence.Although her plotting isnot as seamless asSlaughters, she excelsatdepicting the emotionalevolution of rape victims. Naomis transformation fromshrillneurotic tocourageous fighter makes for compelling reading.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)