Three friends, inseparable in the summer of 1986--Kyle, the volatile leader of the pack, Dennis, the slow one, and Anita, new to the neighborhood who just wants to be "in"--wandering London, searching for caves and trying their best to avoid Mike who bullies them all. By the end of that summer, only Anita is left alive. Their secrets are exposed seven years later during a series of interviews when Anita revisits the police psychiatrist who took her statement at the time of the murders. ----- The first word that comes to mind is "disturbing." This is a book populated with fully realized characters who fascinate and unsettle. You know from the beginning that Anita is the sole survivor of London's notorious cave murders, but the intensity that builds as secrets are exposed and the inevitable ending gets closer is so palpable I sometimes had to put the book aside just to breathe. When the ending is finally reached, it is so unexpected that it's like stepping on a loose board and having it pop up and smack you in the face--hard. A debut novel should not be this good.
Thank you to fellow reader H.H. for lending me her copy.
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