By Nicola Griffith
ISBN: 0380790882
I read another of Griffith’s books in the science fiction vein, Slow River, which I really liked, so when L (my better half) stopped recommending and starting insisting that I read this book, I bumped it to the top of my to-read list.
This is really a suspense/mystery novel. The author spends a lot of time on the nearly superhuman competence of her protagonist, Aud Torvingen. She also lushly sets her scenes: there is something vivid to look at, smell, or touch on just about every page. I got a personal kick out of the scenes set in Atlanta, because L used to live there, and I’ve eaten in the restaurants and shopped in the stores she mentions. (Unlike Aud, however, I have only vile things to say about the humidity.) There were also meditations on physicality and violence, but they weren’t too heavy-handed and fit in with the narrative.
I feel the pacing was a bit slow in the beginning, but once the two main characters, both strong women, stopped dancing around each other and connected, the book grabbed me. This wasn’t just because the sex scenes were really hot; it was because for the first time I was engaged in the story. I had something to care about, instead of just going along for the ride.
This would be why the ending really pissed me off. (I also spent a fair amount of time cursing at L for not warning me about it, and for making me care what happens to these women.) I feel like it was remaining true to the genre that the hero ends up alone, but not necessarily true to this particular story. There is a sequel, Stay, which may change my opinion about this, if I let L convince me to read it. She says it is “even better” than this book.
