Helpful Score: 2
This is a terrific psychological suspense story of a kidnapping plot by 3 lost characters who are aimless and morally bankrupt. Much of the story is told through the eyes of one of the kidnappers. Though he is mentally ill, he provides much of the acute observations of those around him, especially of Sandor, the instigator of the plot. Sandor wants to kidnap this rich heiress but not for financial reasons as everyone thinks. The heiress' chauffeur falls in love with the heiress as she does with him. Her husband is a rich man who owns a security company. Despite all his precautions, the heiress does get kidnapped but it happened not at all like the way most kidnappings happen so it took me by surprise. Like most of Rendell's books, the ending ties up all the loose ends perfectly and it ends on a sad note for most of the characters involved. Yet, the chauffeur, who I found the most endearing and likeable character, suffers and loses the least by the end. I really recommend this book to anyone who likes psychological suspense mysteries. The mystery here lies not in "who done it" but what will happen as each characters' inner selves are revealed.
