A writer, a father, a husband, the owner of a strictly ordered life, Jacob Winter is not a man prone to violence -- until the day he walks in unexpectedly on his wife's affair. Awakening in a small-town Maine jail with no memory of his alleged rampage, he is bailed out by Alix Callahan, a mysterious ethnobotanist who claims to own a small piece of his past. Drawn into her obsessive relationship with July, an exotic Indian beauty from the rainforests of South America, Jacob is simultaneously mesmerized and unnerved by the two women's strange erotic dance as his meticulously controlled world slips even farther out of its orbit -- leading him to a clandestine meeting at the top of a bridge, where he helplessly watches Alix plunge 250 feet into the raging waters below. A suicide, a murder, neither, or both pull Jacob Winter into a twisted game of dark deceptions and psychological terror, one that could destroy his sanity and his soul.
I really got into this book - I read it in one sitting.
Angel S. (AngelWings) from TITUS, AL wrote on 3/7/2007...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It had a lot of twist and turns but you could not put it down.
Ross M. (Parrothead) from WINSTON SALEM, NC wrote on 2/14/2007...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Known for his idiosyncratic characters, erotic nuance and edgy plots, Kimball (Mouth to Mouth) stays true to form with his new fiction noir. An imposing bridge separating New Hampshire from Maine serves as the gothic centerpiece to this complex tale of murder, passion, jealousy and revenge. Jailed for assaulting wife Laura's psychiatrist lover, struggling author Jacob Winter is unexpectedly bailed out by Alix Callahan, a college classmate whom he hasn't seen for 15 years. She and her mysterious lover, July, operate an exotic gardening business, though it's immediately clear that all is not right between the two women. Soon Jacob and July are summoned to that imposing bridge by a frantic Alix; July shoots her and she falls to her death-or does she? Alix's body is never found and strange occurrences (not the least of which is someone else's murder) suggest she may still be alive. Meanwhile, July's husband, a sinister Colombian shaman, has escaped from a Florida prison and is making his way up the coast, looking for revenge and the drug money Alix and July stole from him. Estranged from Laura, Jacob foolishly (though he rarely shows good judgment throughout) accepts July's offer to stay with her, setting off a long, strange and possibly deadly seduction. Despite a promising start, the level of suspense is inconsistent and Kimball resorts to some hokey plot elements (psychic visions, poison frogs) in an effort to keep things interesting. Still, this diabolic epic is well calculated to keep readers who can suspend disbelief turning the pages.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY REVIEW
Becky U. (vannasnana) from CLIO, MI wrote on 3/16/2006...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Suspenseful - another one you can't put down!
Gail W. (G-Rated) from KISSIMMEE, FL wrote on 11/25/2005...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
An imposing bridge separating New Hampshire from Maine serves as the gothic centerpiece to this complex tale of murder, passion, jealousy and revenge. Jailed for assaulting wife Laura's psychiatrist lover, struggling author Jacob Winter is unexpectedly bailed out by Alix Callahan, a college classmate whom he hasn't seen for 15 years. She and her mysterious lover, July, operate an exotic gardening business, though it's immediately clear that all is not right between the two women. Soon Jacob and July are summoned to that imposing bridge by a frantic Alix; July shoots her and she falls to her death-or does she? Alix's body is never found and strange occurrences (not the least of which is someone else's murder) suggest she may still be alive. Meanwhile, July's husband, a sinister Colombian shaman, has escaped from a Florida prison and is making his way up the coast, looking for revenge and the drug money Alix and July stole from him. Estranged from Laura, Jacob foolishly (though he rarely shows good judgment throughout) accepts July's offer to stay with her, setting off a long, strange and possibly deadly seduction.
This was a great book! I really did not expect that I would like it as much as I did. If you like a good suspense novel, you will love this one. But once you start, it's a hard one to put down! This is only the 2nd book I have read by this author, but definitely not the last. It left me wanting to read more of his books.
Lisa Maxine B. (Maxines66) from GEORGETOWN, MA wrote on 2/1/2006...
Not one of his best
David C. (dmaylman) from WESTFIELD, MA wrote on 10/16/2005...