Deliciously Nasty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                            The sacred name of Patricia Highsmith has been attached to this novel, by Katie Kitamura, but I thought more of John Lanchester's sadistically delightful "The Debt To Pleasure," which was nastier than this.

                                             The book's title is double edged.  An unnamed female narrator--hey, I have not seen that, since "Rebecca"!!!!--has separated, martially, from her husband, though the couple have not told anyone.  Meanwhile, the husband, named Christopher, has fled to Greece, on the pretext of researching a book.  Wife follows him to Greece--and can't find him?  Where is Christopher?  What happened to him?  How? And by whom?

                                               The book reads like a terse novella, and for those who are familiar with Highsmith, or Lanchester's work, what happened to Christopher is not surprising.  The question that stays in my mind is how the opportunity came up.  That is something I will be pondering for a long time.

                                                  There was some "Gone Girl" buzz surrounding this book, which drew me to it, though it is far more subtle than Gillian Flynn's novel.  And nasty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                   That sense of delicious nastiness, from first sentence to last, is why readers should be encouraged to read this.

                                                     Hardly a ringing endorsement of marriage, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!