Fiction – paperback; Penguin; 384 pages; 2003.

Land of the Living is typical Nicci French fare: a fast-paced, cleverly plotted story. I read it in two sittings and enjoyed every minute of it’s page turning brilliance.

The narrative, which begins with a young woman, Abbie Deveraux, waking up in the dark, hooded and bound, twists and turns its way to a nail-biting conclusion. The I-wonder-what-happens-next element is especially good, even though, on the face of it, the storyline — a woman on the run from an unknown stranger who has murder on his mind — is a familiar construct in many of French’s previous novels.

What elevates this to a proper “thriller” is that the police, and most of Abbie’s friends, do not believe her story so she is left to fend for herself. This woman alone against the odds proves a gripping and irresistible read. Highly recommended.