Beware the wicked whispers
THE RUMOUR by Lesley Kara (Bantam, €18.20)
THIS captivating debut is loosely based on the real murder of two toddler boys by the 11-year-old Mary Bell in Newcastle in 1968.
Bell was given a fresh identity and moved to a small British seaside town after her release from prison in 1980.
Kara’s heroine, Joanna, has recently relocated to Flinstead-on-Sea with her young son Alfie when she hears a rumour at the school gates that Sally McGowan, who killed a toddler when she was ten, may be hiding in the town under a new identity.
Is the rumour true and, if so, who is she now?
So begins a subtle examination of the damage that gossip can do and of the murky waters that can swirl around in a small town.
Kara skilfully charts the destruction that vigilantism causes, then asks the difficult question of whether true redemption is ever possible.
FRIENDS LIKE THESE by Sarah Alderson (Mulholland €18.20)
ORIGINALLY published in 1965, and now republished, Washington insider Knebel — who died in 1993 — poses a very contemporary question in this era of Donald Trump: what would happen if the President of the United States went stark raving mad?
What if an out-of-control president saw conspirators all around him, had paranoid outbursts and was gripped by erratic ideas that threatened national security? Could he be stopped — and how?
Junior senator Jim MacVeigh suddenly finds himself invited to spend time with charismatic President Mark Hollenbach late at night at the President’s country retreat, Camp David.
The more the President rambles on in the small hours, the more the young MacVeigh begins to believe the man has taken leave of his senses.
Even more confusing is the fact that Hollenbach seems to have chosen MacVeigh as his vice-presidential running mate in this election year. What should he do?
When it first appeared, this first-rate thriller was termed ‘a little too plausible for comfort’. It still is.
NIGHT OF CAMP DAVID by Fletcher Knebel (Vintage €12.60)
GEOFFREY WANSELL BECCA apparently has it all: the job everyone lusts after at a glamorous London talent agency, as well as a handsome lawyer boyfriend and a life that’s packed with exotic holidays.
What’s more, she flaunts it all on social media, adding insult to injury for her mousy, timid co-worker Lizzie, who secretly envies her dreadfully.
Then Becca has an accident — and she disappears from Lizzie’s life.
Time passes and, one night, Lizzie finds Becca’s dashing (now ex) boyfriend James on the dating app Tinder and resolves to meet him.
She also tracks Becca on social media, only to make the mistake of sending her a message meant for a friend, describing Becca in distinctly unflattering terms.
Soon, Lizzie discovers just how manipulative Becca truly is and what a terrifying enemy she can make.
Fast-moving and beautifully told, it is hard to put down.