Saturday, December 1, 2007

Book #62: The Devil's Feather


Title: The Devil's Feather
Author: Minette Walters

Connie Burns is a woman who has seen it all. As a child, she and her white family were run off their farm in Africa when the government took it over. As an adult, she has been a war correspondent in Sierra Leone, war-torn Asia, and Iraq. In Iraq, she meets a man from her past, who she thinks may be a serial killer. Shortly after beginning to research the man (she's looking into him despite his assurances that he'll kill her if she does), he kidnaps her, makes it look like a politically-motivated killing, and rapes and tortures her for three days. Upon her release, she makes a break for a deserted old house in the English countryside. A house with a past. A house without DSL or cell phone service. The perfect place to soothe your frayed nerves when a deranged man who has already raped you and now wants to kill you is on the loose.

Despite the "girl in peril" idiocy Burns showed (it reminded me a little bit of those dumb girls in horror movies who go into darkened rooms when they know a killer is on the loose), I really enjoyed The Devil's Feather. It was quick-paced, kept me reading late into the night, and resulted in a very messy home. It also has some good girl-power scenes where Connie and her neighbor reenact some Thelma and Louise style buttkicking.

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