Beneath the Skin

May 1, 2000
French delivers a powerfully intricate follow-up to her first novel (Killing Me Softly) in this psychological thriller. Zoe Haratounian (a pre-school teacher), Jennifer Hintlesham (a former model and mother of three) and Nadia Blake (a children's entertainer) are all petite, uniquely pretty women. They also are all involved in, or getting out of, bad relationships with men, and they are all the targets of a murderous stalker who haunts his victims through disturbingly personal letters. The pattern established in the opening pages of the novel seems simple: a woman begins receiving love letters laced with threatening remarks; she notifies the local (British) police, who investigate and provide protection; and soon she is killed right under their noses. Told in rotating first- and third-person narrative stretches, the novel moves quickly forward as the women describe their growing unease and the stalker explains how thrilling it is to see his victims crumble under the barrage of brutal, eeerie letters ("She gets weaker and smaller. I look at her and I think to myself, I did this."). Meanwhile Nadia, disillusioned with the cops, attempts to solve the crime herself. By getting to know the families and friends of the other dead women, she discovers clues that lead her right into the killer's hands. The book concludes with a stunning plot twist and demonstrates, as did her first novel, that French knows how to carry a chilling situation to frightening extremes. BOMC main selection. (May) FYI: Nicci French is the pseudonym for a pair of British journalists, Nicci Gerrard, who works for the Observer, and Sean French, who writes for the New Statesman.

Starred review from April 1, 2000
After an outstanding American debut with "Killing Me Softly", French returns with a very different but equally compelling novel. This time she offers a new take on an old theme. While most novels about serial killers focus on finding the killer after the victims are dead, French writes from the victim's perspective, dividing up the story into thirds to present the viewpoints of the three female victims. The killer also is heard from, mostly through his disturbing letters to the three women, but occasionally--and chillingly--he speaks in the first person. Since only a third of the book is devoted to each woman, French must hook the reader early on, which she does as brilliantly here as she did in her previous novel. Female readers probably will be able to identify strongly with at least one of the victims: Zoe, a teacher in her early 20s, Jennifer, a wealthy stay-at-home mother who is reluctantly approaching 40, and Nadia, a free-spirited children's-party performer in her late 20s. The bond readers feel with the victims makes their fate that much more tragic. An absolutely first-rate thriller from a writer who deserves more recognition. ((Reviewed April 1, 2000))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)