Review Archive for author's that start with ... U

                                            BEAUTIFUL LIES
                                                by Lisa Unger
                                             ISBN 1863254803
                                                    372 pages
                                                      BANTAM
                                                    May 1 2006
                                                         $32.95
                                         reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                                   April 26 2006

Lisa Unger, who formerly worked in publishing, has turned to her long time love, writing, to pen a remarkable debut novel. BEAUTIFUL LIES examines the idea of decisions, right and wrong, questions of identity, and Chaos Theory type results of actions and their timing as well as possible solutions to the mystery of child abductions.

How many children, at one time or another, come to the conclusion that they are adopted? Quite a high percentage, if psychology reports are to be believed. Ridley Jones is not  of their number until her heroic but rash act of saving a toddler from being run over sees her picture on front pages of publications. She gains a lot of unwanted attention from members of the public who otherwise would have remained in ignorance of her existence. An envelope, containing a photograph of a woman and a child, arrives accompanied by a note reading 'Are you my daughter?' together with a telephone number. The woman bears a striking resemblance to Ridley while the image of the child is similar to photographs she has seen of herself, although the child is younger than any remembered photographs she has seen. Ridley determines to question her paediatrician father and her mother about the contents of the mysterious missive.

At the same time, a man of similar age to Ridley, Jake, moves into her building. Mistaking her identity, he knocks on her door. Not long after, the two become lovers. Ridley has recently broken up with her former lover, Zachary, and marvels at the difference in her feelings for each man.

Set in 1972, the prologue to the narrative reveals a woman with a baby who has taken out a restraining order on the father of her child, a man who abuses her and who has already broken the arm of the baby. She hears someone stealthily attempting to gain entrance to her apartment but takes time, amidst her fear, to think of the three children who have gone missing from the neighbourhood in recent time.

Chapter One leaves the reader in no doubt that Ridley has done something to put herself in grave danger. She is trapped in a decaying house with an unnamed man while other men are seeking them with deadly intent -- and Ridley has a gun and only six bullets.....

This is a thriller of the first water. Most of the time, suspense is maintained despite Ridley's frequent philosophical musings and introspective examination of her past. In an interview on the Net, Unger explains that the idea for the story was generated by a flier she saw that reported a missing child. She ruminated on possible scenarios and the inspiration for the novel was born.

The character of Ridley Jones is very well developed. Her drug addict brother, while drawn in a much sketchier way, has reasonable motives attributed to him. Jake is well (and sexily) portrayed and almost all the situations are believable. There is loads of excitement, including a hair raising car chase, and New York City environs are charmingly depicted.

An interview given by the author informs the public that she is at work on her second novel. We may only hope it is soon published.
                                         SLIVER OF TRUTH
                                                by Lisa Unger
                                             ISBN 1863255478
                                                    368 pages
                                                       Bantam
                                                 January 2007
                                                          $32.95
                                       reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                              December 22 2006
 

Ridley Jones is in trouble again. The protagonist of BEAUTIFUL LIES is still reeling in shock from the discovery that her Uncle Max Smiley was, in actuality, her natural father and that far from being the jovial philanthropist with an inexplicable love for the adopted daughter of his friend Ben, Smiley was a sinister criminal who trafficked in babies and women. Now, too, the love affair Ridley began with Jake Jacobsen in the previous book, seems to be on rocky ground. They have discovered that while they are able to remain something rather warmer than friends, they are unable to live together.

After picking up some newly developed photos, Ridley is stopped by a man identifying himself as Special Agent Dylan Grace of the (what else?) FBI. Grace detains Ridley briefly and points out to her a shadowy figure in the background of some of her photos. He makes it clear that he believes Max is still alive and watching his daughter. To confound Ridley further, when she recounts her experience to Jake, he appears all too convinced that such a scenario could be true.

Ridley is unable to obtain help from brother Ace: he has relapsed into drug addiction. Agent Grace tells her that he is the only friend she has and, as people she knew are being found dead, Ridley is forced to consider that he might be telling the truth.

Her parents are overseas, travelling through Europe, and Ridley invades her father's study in search of answers. Someone who may have the solution to a secret Net site's mysteries attempts to help her but the results are dire and Ridley finds herself 'of interest' to more than one Federal agency.

Unger proved her abilities as a novelist in her previous work, BEAUTIFUL LIES (not her debut as she had previously published as Lisa Miscione) and is unlikely to lose her reputation as an accomplished thriller writer with this opus. Ridley's character grows further and the reader is treated to hitherto concealed facets of her personality and beliefs.

The author is able to indulge her taste for gory descriptions, constructing fearful fates for her corpses as well as grievous bodily harm for her protagonist (though Ridley did seem to recover from one injury with remarkable alacrity.)

Chock full of excitement as this novel is, there is a large plot hook on which the author may yet hang a third episode of  the adventures of Ridley Jones in search of a father.
BLACK OUT
by Lisa Unger
ISBN  9781863255943
358 pages
BANTAM
May 1 2008
$32.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
April 30 2008

Lisa Unger really does a fine line in creepiness. I didnít remember it so much from her first two novels,SLIVER OF TRUTH and BEAUTIFUL LIES, but BLACK OUT stayed with me, if not haunting my dreams, at least making that vulnerable time, just before one drops off to sleep, for several nights.

The prologue depicts a woman on a ship, thinking about her life and hoping that the report of her death (which will, of course, be greatly exaggerated) will not be too traumatic for her small daughter, Victory.

Chapter One features Annie Powers as she pushes her shopping trolley through a supermarket, but thinks of the reaction her mother, who named her Ophelia, would have to the woman she has become. But Annie is still fleeing her former life, when she was, indeed, Ophelia, but was bound to a man named Marlowe, son of Frank Geary, a condemned murderer and the man who married Opheliaís mother.

Ophelia had a very troubled childhood, bereft of her father, a tattoo artist more notable for his absences than his occasional presence. Small wonder, then, that she eventually needs the services of a psychiatrist-- especially since Ophelia was complicit with Marlowe in some spectacular crimes.

Initially, Annie has an uneasy relationship with her father-in-law, Drew. This does not extend to his wife, Annieís husband Grayís step-mother, Vivian. Mind, Annie finds Vivian a bit too protective, but Victory adores her grandparents.

Annieís terror of the Gearys, father and son, becomes more easily explicable as the narrative continues but even the statement that Marlowe is dead does not reassure her. She simply doesnít believe the oft repeated assertion.

There is no denying that this is a superbly written book. There is also no denying that I couldnít enjoy it, but that is just me. I can recognise a beautifully plotted book with the tension gradually building and the suspense heightened perfectly.

The characters are excellently drawn. I know I wouldnít want to meet any of them in a place not well populated or that is ill lit! The one exception to this is Opheliaís father, whom I found rather attractive, in a strange kind of way. In any case, he does not occupy a very great space in the book -- he is always too intent on  escaping whatever is going on.

The story of betrayal certainly makes the reader pity the sinned against protagonist, even when she is no longer the troubled, persecuted teenager but a wealthy, secure wife.

The byways which the plot explores are very murky and terrifying. A lot of the time it is difficult for the reader to understand just what is real in the events that occupy Annieís/Opheliaís life.

I have no hesitation in recommending such a well written book to crime fiction aficionados. I just wish it hadnít got under my skin to the extent that it did!
AN EXPERT IN MURDER
by Nicola Upson
ISBN 9780571239078
292 pages
faber and faber
April 1 2008
$32.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
April 17 2008

Before beginning the meat of this review, I suppose I had best state my own bias. I loathe the practice of employing real life personalities as protagonists in fiction. Thus, I shuddered to find Josephine Tey to be the central character of this novel. The fact that the character bore the name ìTeyî, rather than the authorís real name of Elizabeth Mackintosh, ameliorated the effect slightly but I canít see why an entirely fictional protagonist could not have been created.

Josephine is on a train bound for London from the Highlands. She is sitting next to a girl named Elspeth who, fortuitously (it appears at first) is a devotée of the playwrightís RICHARD OF BORDEAUX, a work about Richard II. Both women are to see the production and Elspeth waxes enthusiastic about the play. Josephine is enchanted by the girlís youth and eagerness. When they leave the train in London, Elspeth has to go back aboard the train, whence she never emerges alive. She has been murdered in a stylised manner, with two dolls arranged as though they were actors, opposite the corpse, which appears to be applauding a show.

DI Archie Penrose (who bears a strong similarity to  Teyís Detective inspector Grant) comes to Kings Cross Station to begin his investigation into the case and is delighted to find Josephine in the company of his cousins who are to play host to her.

Before too long, there is another murder. Bernard Aubrey, ìone of the West Endís most prominent and influential theatrical managersî meets a particularly gruesome end and once more, there is an aspect of the dramatic in his surroundings. Could there be yet more deaths in store for the people associated with the theatre and, in particular, with RICHARD OF BORDEAUX?

Upson manages to mix fictional characters with historical with a measure of success. Contrary to my expectation, she doesnít have Josephine tracking down the murderer a la Miss Marple (and Agatha Christieís work does receive a mention in the text.) Instead, she occupies the role of bystander for much of the time.

The plot is very complicated, with unexpected connections between all the characters turning up at different times. Sometimes I felt I should draw a diagram so that I didnít get lost when remembering who was who in relation to whom.

The mystery is a very good one. I would hate to rate my performance at guessing whodunnit in detective stories but I certainly had not the slightest inkling in this instance.

An interesting sidelight in the novel is that homosexual (which includes lesbian) relationships are taken for granted, despite the fact that they (male relationships) were not legalised until the 1960s.

There is no denying that this is a very promising debut in the crime fiction field and it will be interesting to read Ms Upsonís further output.