Publisher's Weekly
Fremlin ( Listening in the Dusk ) demonstrates how a pro baits a hook and gently reels in the reader with a frightening tale--her 17th--that seems so believable one suspects it may have happened. Clare Wakefield's journalist husband Edwin, one of three British hostages kidnapped on a trip in Beirut, has escaped. Although their marriage was a failure, Clare feigns happiness and tries to reconcile herself to a husband who is basking in fame. When the other hostages are released, one of them tells her privately that Edwin had chickened out on the trip and was never taken hostage. Clare watches Edwin as he realizes he must get rid of the other two before they go public with his lie. In her narration, Clare offers a penetrating and horrifying view of a woman torn between her desire to be a loyal wife and mother and her wish to see truth and honesty prevail.