Greek vacation takes ugly turn

The globe-trotter Lawrence Osborne is is certainly clued up about the blundering of decadent tourists amid more morally grounded locals. His cynical take on Western decay is pitiless, matter-of-fact.

His riveting third novel, “The Forgiven,” explored the dire consequences of louche Europeans partying in conservative Morocco. His new novel, “Beautiful Animals,” transports us to the Greek island of Hydra, where two young women strike up a somewhat hierarchical friendship while vacationing with their families for the summer. The worldlier of the two, a few years older at 24, Naomi Codrington is the daughter of a wealthy British art dealer who owns a house on the island. Samantha Haldane is the more naive and therefore (of course) American.

When the footloose pair discovers a Syrian refugee, Faoud, washed up on a deserted beach, Naomi is determined to make the young man their summer project. But the altruism of her intention to help him reach mainland Europe rings hollow. She is a mischief-maker and idly attracted to Faoud, who is instinctively leery of non-Greeks bearing gifts.

To secure funds to finance a new life in Italy for their pet Syrian, Naomi proposes to facilitate his burglary of her own house. Though Samantha balks at becoming involved, she has fallen under the savvier girl’s sway. Perhaps needless to say, the plan goes horribly wrong. Osborne is a master at imbuing his text with both dread and inexorability. “Beautiful Animals” positively drips with this-can’t-end-well.

The portrayal of Faoud is sympathetic but unsentimental. Confident, wary and single-minded, the refugee will do what he must survive (always a little chilling). He has his Darwinian wits about him in a way that the Westerners no longer do.

Osborne is both a consummate stylist and a keen observer. Provincial Italian towns are “defiantly morose.” A walk under a midday sun is “the kind of torment that only the affluent unemployed would inflict upon themselves.”

Let’s not mince words. This is a great book. Truly difficult to put down, the novel exerts a sickening pull. Its climax and resolution will not disappoint. The social perspective is sophisticated, smart and uncomfortable, and the story is cracking. By publishing four novels in the past five years, he seems to be working from a fat, tattered file titled “Human Condition: Notes,” and is making up for lost time. Lucky for us, too.