Publisher's Weekly Review
With chilling first-person narration, Evans inhabits the mind of a psychopath, balancing her case study and a tensely comic undercurrent with a precision quite remarkable in a first novel. Larry Mann, 72, appears harmless. He rents an apartment in a small London townhouse where he's lived alone for 12 years, since his wife left, he tells us. When lonely college student Amanda ``Mandy'' Tyson moves into the building, Larry immediately decides that she is ``different'' from other women and barrages her with gifts and overtures of friendship (including a clock radio and elaborate surprise meals). Mandy's efforts at distancing herself from Larry are thwarted not only by her good manners but also because she identifies with him: she realizes that they're both lonely and in need of company. But after she starts bringing home her lover (a married man), Larry's obsession turns actively threatening. Throughout, Evans evokes layers of menace in Larry's casual, chatty voice: Larry often refers to himself in the third person; his days are filled with what he calls ``the waiting and the listening''his constant monitoring of Mandy's every move; he misinterprets events (and himself) so that they conform with his fantasies. The grim finale doesn't surprise; but Evans's intense, unrelenting focus on Larry's frightening and frighteningly funny way of thinking (``Honestly, if I didn't know any better, I'd think she was trying to avoid me'') makes this taut literary thriller nearly impossible to put down. (Jan). (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
This skillfully done, claustrophobic first novel is truly chilling. In 21 short, menacing chapters, all told in the voice of Larry, a twisted loner who lives in a London boardinghouse, Evans expertly captures the sick mind of a psychopath who preys on the loneliness of a vulnerable college student. Larry is overjoyed when upper-class Mandy, on the outs with her family, takes a room in the seedy house where he has been a tenant for 43 years. He immediately tries to ingratiate himself by leaving her presents, which makes Mandy extremely uncomfortable. In this way, he gradually starts to overtake her life, prowling around her rooms when she's out, swooping down on her the moment she arrives home, insisting that she visit him in the evening. He asks increasingly intrusive questions and talks nonstop about his disastrous marriage. When Mandy's lover comes to visit, his obsession escalates; he steals her mail and starts to make elaborate plans, all of which lead to the inevitable, disastrous finale. In addition to creating a distinctive, perfectly sustained narrative voice, Evans delivers a gripping story that just doesn't quit. An impressive debut. --Joanne Wilkinson
