Leave Her to Heaven

by Ben Ames Williams

This classic bestselling novel about a man who encounters a woman whose power to destroy is as strong as her power to love evokes Hemingway in its naturalistic portrayal of elemental forces in both nature and humanity.

Ellen’s beauty was radiant, and Harland had been so struck with her personality and the strength of her character that he knew he could never leave her. When he found that she returned his adoration, he could marry her with joy, bothered just momentarily by a strange premonition.

It was only later, when the premonition became a horrifying reality, that he realized the glowing loveliness of the woman he had married was the true face of evil.

Genres: Fiction, Noir, Mystery, Classics, Romance, Historical Fiction, Crime

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1944

About the author

Ben Ames Williams was born in Macon, Mississippi to Daniel Webster Williams and Sarah Marshall Ames on March 7, 1889. Just after his birth, he and his parents moved to Jackson, Ohio. Because his father was owner and editor of the Jackson Standard Journal in Ohio, Ben Williams grew up around writing, printing, and editing. In high school he worked for the Journal, doing grunt work in the beginning and eventually writing and editing. He attended Dartmouth College and upon graduation in 1910 was offered a job teaching English at a boy’s school in Connecticut. He telegraphed his father seeking career advice, but his handwriting was terrible and his father mistook “teaching” for “traveling” and, not wanting his son to become a traveling businessman, advised him not to take the job. Richard Cary says it later saved Williams from “a purgatory of grading endless, immature English ‘themes’” and propelled him “toward a career as one of the most popular storytellers of his time”. Right after graduation he took a job reporting for the Boston American.

Williams worked hard reporting for the local newspaper, but only did this for income; his heart lay with magazine fiction. Each night he worked on his fiction writing with the aspiration that one day, his stories would be able to support himself, his wife, Florence Talpey, and their children, Roger, Ben, and Penelope. He faced many rejection letters in the beginning of his career, which only drove him to study harder and practice more.

Williams was first published on August 23, 1915 in The Popular Magazine with his short story “Deep Stuff.” After that his popularity slowly grew. He published 135 short stories, 35 serials, and 7 articles for the Saturday Evening Post during a period of 24 years. After the Post took him, other magazines began eagerly seeking Williams to submit his fiction to their magazines.

Williams is perhaps most famous for creating the fictional town of Fraternity, located in rural Maine. 125 of his short stories were set in Fraternity, and they were most popular in the Post. Maine is also the setting for many of his novels.

Williams died of a heart attack in 1953.

Source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Classic reverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though the movie was great, the book like always is well worth the read & more details which makes it a wonderful read! The only trouble is this kindle edition had a fair amount of errors that I reported to Amazon via the kindle device. Looking forward to reading more of Ben Ames Williams.-If you ever come across the classic movie from 1945 "Leave Her to Heaven", it is quite an interesting femme fatale story based on Ben Ames Williams book of the same name. I had seen the movie several times over the years & Gene Tierney was superb as Ellen. I had forgot Jeanne Crain & Vincent Price were also in this one which was cast in perfection IMO. One of my favorite genre besides classics, is finding books based on movies I have seen over the years & every time I feel the book well worth the read even though I know the plot. This book showed me sides into characters that one really can't portray adequately except through the author's intended words. There is a basic formula that the director follows but changes things up & in this movie that was done which the book reveals a less defined situation.The book starts off with a man, Richard Harland, returning home after a long ordeal with the law.The start of the book comes full circle at the end, and there are extra insights of the townspeople explained at the very end. Richard Harland & his brother Danny, who is more like a young son because of their ages, are the only family left for each other & a special relationship is formed early on & cemented after their parents' death. Richard, a young author, decides to write his first novel & that becomes an instant best seller. While Richard is on a train to New Mexico to see a friend who Danny & him have become friendly with during their adventures together but Danny no longer can partake in due to crippling effects of polio, he sees a beautiful young woman falling asleep while reading his novel. He is intrigued & thinks of her constantly and finds out she is to be part of the party that will be at his friend's ranch. He has been given many ominous warnings about Ellen's behavior by all that know her & especially her bitter mouthed mother. Ellen has always had her way & we see what lengths she goes to in this story to achieve this. Wonderfully written to the insights of human nature.

[Graceann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having seen the film (Gene Tierney is a big favorite of mine) and being a fan of Ben Ames Williams, I was interested to see how much of the novel had been changed in order to comply with the Hays Production Code in place in the 1940s in Hollywood. Even without that reason, I would have wanted to read it, just because Ben Ames Williams wrote it.

This is a novel for those who think the obsessed lover began with Play Misty for Me and Fatal Attraction. When Richard Harland meets Ellen Berent during a holiday in New Mexico, he has no idea what he's let himself in for. Ellen's web is an intricate one; she loves Richard so much that she doesn't want to share him with anyone, ever, and she goes to great lengths to keep him to herself.

Even though I've seen the film, I found the story suspenseful, and I especially appreciated how Williams bookended the novel with Harland's arrival at his woodland getaway and his thoughts (and those of his neighbors) during that arrival. This was masterful, and tied the story together really well. I don't know that I would have given the story five stars if it had been released in 2012, because the solutions to the characters' problems would have been more easily reached, I feel, but when I place myself in 1944, it's a cracking read and must have been quite something for readers to discover for the first time back then.

[Hester · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ellen is beautiful but evil, Richard is stupid and thinks with his penis, and this book is nearly 200 pages too long.

I was excited to find out that this was a book, I only have the vaguest of memories of the 1945 movie and the 1988 made for TV remake, Too Good to be True, starring Patrick Duffy and Lonnie Anderson and those memories are only of Ellen sitting in the boat while Danny drowns and throwing herself down the stairs to miscarry. I remember enjoying both movies, but this book eh.... I didn't enjoy it.

Firstly Richard really is a dumb fuck, shortly after meeting Ellen on a train to New Mexico he discovers that they're both staying at the ranch of a mutual friend. From the moment he steps off of the train there are red flags and warning bells everywhere to stay the hell away from Ellen. Her own mother seems to hate her and even says to a bunch of strangers that her daughter was so possessive of her recently deceased father that she wouldn't have been surprised if she found out Ellen had slept with him. This is coming from her own mother, her own mother. How much more of a warning does one need that this bitch is damaged and just aint right in general?

Ellen plays it cool and aloof to pique Richard's interest and it works, then she somehow manipulates Richard into marriage. The honeymoon is a short one for Ellen as she quickly remembers that Richard has a disabled little brother named Danny whom he adores, she decides she hates his guts even before meeting him because Richard not only loves him but he also knows Richard better than she does. Get this, Ellen tells Richard several times that she doesn't like Danny and that she's jealous of him. Richard doesn't seem troubled by this confession, he just takes in stride and laughs it off.

Goodbye Danny, we hardly knew ye.





After Richard witnesses her allowing Danny to drown, she lies and tells him that she's pregnant to keep him from ratting her out. And that's when this story completely lost me. What fun is there when Richard knows what she did instead of just merely suspecting it? The rest of the story comes hurtling at you like a freight train at a car stranded on the tracks. It's predictable and boring, so very boring. Save yourself the trouble and watch the movie.

[Carla Remy · Rating 3 out of 5]

05/2018

I think of my book reading and my memory (which isn't bad, but I read many books so it's impossible to remember them all perfectly). I read my old Goodreads reviews, and sometimes they don't match up with my recollections. So, just thinking ahead, I know I will remember this novel for its great parts, and forget how bored I often was. The forest fire scene was very good, intense and memorable. Likewise when Ellen (rather passively) murders Danny. But I didn't like all the fishing and hunting. And, especially when it got to the trial, the length and detail was just... painstaking.

[Sallie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many people compare/contrast the book and the movie. I prefer to see them as separate entities and accept each for what it is. Both have strengths and weaknesses. That said, this is a terrific read. Ben Ames Williams digs deeply into his characters, shading them, fully developing them into complete personalities. With this book, read over several days, I found myself thinking of it when I couldn't be reading it. That's pretty rare these days. I wanted to read more, wanted to see the story unfold, wanted to see how far Ellen would go. That's good writing. It's developed at a slow pace, which on today's world of instant gratification is a jewel-like gift. It's a story I'll return to again and again, probably finding nuances I missed earlier. The movie is well-done; Gene Tierney is perfect as Ellen, Jeanne Crain develops Ruth into a real person and Cornel Wilde is Richard Harland. It's technically lush and is basically the story as it appears in the book, with a few changes.

[Monique · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favourite noir movies so thought it was time to read the book. Whilst the typesetting/print on this edition is terrible, the book was a great read, if a little bogged in love and nature at times. But the star was not docked for that.
The star was docked for the representation of a woman selflessly worrying about her man rather than the fact that she's on trial after being stitched up for murder by her sister. On trial and going down, who does she worry about? Her man looks tired and needs to go for a drive in the country. "Please, I'm a lot more worried about you, than I am about myself."
I don't know a woman alive like that.
And the dead sister? She was a stepford wife and would put out whenever he wanted and however he wanted. Sex in nature? No worries. The psychopathy was a small thing that was overlooked as long as possible.
This is what comes from men writing their ideal women into novels. :)
Still it was a great read.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too many books I have read recently have been middling affairs, so that when I dove into the pages of Leave Her to Heaven, it felt like a breath of fresh air. The writing is both lively and languid at once, taking its time to seep in. I especially liked the shifting narrative voices between Richard Harland, Ellen Berent, and Ellen's sister Ruth. It is a love story in several parts, primarily focusing on the possessive, suffocating love of Ellen for Richard. There are many tragic consequences that follow. For any lovers of the film starring Gene Tierney, who seems completely perfect for the role, you will be glad to discover that while the film has streamlined the story, it is rather faithful to the book, so while there are few surprises, it is still a rich experience to discover.

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bettie's Books

The rating, any status updates, and those bookshelves, indicate my feelings for this book.

[Nancy Oakes]

later the film, then back with a post.

for now: What a twisty story! It can bog a bit here and there and sometimes the schmalzy romance writing was too much, but as stories of complete obsession go, it's a pretty good one. I'm thinking at the moment along the lines of a 3.7/3.8 rounded up to a four. Didn't love it, but really liked it.

more soon

[Kamakana · Rating 3 out of 5]

030416: i do not know if this is truly a three, rating up from two because I did read it in one sitting, so easy, fast reading. reading inspired by the gene tierney movie, favourite of a friend, watched several years ago, and what bothered me then continues to bother me. that is, the strange passivity of the man, the obvious evil, in omission rather than action or plot, motivated by insane jealousy which seems to be her key characteristic, even in close inspection. then the revelations of motivation coming to- it seems to me- more damning guilt rather than less...

could have been about half as long, but the resolution court scenes are easy to read, almost all dialogue, the various people rather thinly defined, plot is not elaborate, psychology unique, in recompense... this was a best seller of its time (1944), has a few good scenes, and the movie was sunny noir... slow in the second half, with curious passages about creating, writing, about ordinary lives, though this is itself not ordinary... noir? well it does have simple, obsessive, twisted psychology, to move the plot, but the reader is returned to dry safe land by the end... watch the movie, tierney is believable and beautiful...

[Nel · Rating 3 out of 5]

After seeing the 1940s film, I hunted down the at times vivid and lyrical original novel. It lags in places, particularly near the end, but it's an interesting, often disturbing story with female character rare in books/film of the time. Here's a favorite passage of mine:

"Harland was conscious of a deep intangible disturbance in him, an emotional anticipation like that which one may feel before the curtain rises at the opera, when the orchestra sets the key for the tragedy to follow. The night was fine, the moon was bright, Ellen was lovely and tender here beside him; yet there was a vibration in the very earth itself, transmitted from the rocks on which the long swells beat, which seemed to warn him that this sweet and stable world was insecure... "You don't understand how much I love you, Richard,' she said gravely. 'You'll never understand how jealously I love you. I hate sharing your thoughts with anyone else at all.' The hot passion in her tones was like the first rumble of a distant storm."

[Rikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I held back from reading others reviews, because I knew it'd be easy to take a shallow approach. The way Ben Ames Williams writes this novel, is done so incredibly well, especially for a book of this length. Seldom, and briefly, did my excitement waiver to find out what happens next. The overall situation, set in the 1940s or so, that begins is a simple, yet crucial part of the story, and could simply happen to anyone if you crossed an equally ravishing, intelligent, and psychotic woman who knows exactly what she wants. I find little point in bashing the characters and their choices here. While there are characters to like and dislike, parts you enjoy and don't, the story is incredibly well written and enjoyable. A page turner, no doubt. Good trumps evil, which is never a let down. Each character is created to a unique and true style that I've come to admire greatly in good writers. I recommend if you enjoy a well thought and scripted novel.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

2011 is being a year with good discoveries.
This book came to me by fluke. I never thought it could be so good, simply because I never heard about Ben Ames Williams after this book.

I think he's an amazing writer, very talented. I loved the characters and theirs descriptions. The author doesn't judge, he simply narrates how the things are happening and what the characters are feeling.

This story is the kind of story that we know it can be true. But we don't have other chance that get amazed with such creativity...

I own this book, it's an old version (43 years) and it seems it's one of the few in spanish, I feel glad. It's like a jewel for me.

I can't wait to watch the movie and I'm searching desperately for others books. It's being hard to find them.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

The movie was definitely better than the book. The writing in this is horrible - purple prose, telling instead of showing, hitting you over the head with how evil Ellen is from early on. I abandoned it at 25% because I couldn't take any more. Disappointing!

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had an idea that it might be fun to experience the reverse for a change--read books that movies I like are based on. They always say the book is better, so putting it to the test. Now the movie Leave Her to Heaven is one of my absolute favorites and gave me a whole new appreciation of Gene Tierney (sorry, I am not a big fan of Ghost and Mrs. Muir--I think the plot is creepy and that the role seemed better suited for someone like Loretta Young instead of Tierney). Basically every scene with Tierney in that movie is fantastic--and she perfectly depicts Ellen's scheming insane power hungry smothering love.

Ellen in the book is about the same as Ellen in the movie. I pictured Gene while reading this, and I think perhaps she was a bit more sympathetic in the movie. The scene in the movie where basically the whole gang drops in on her at the rustic Back of the Moon cottage and she's just SEETHING. And yeah, everyone was being really annoying and for someone who craved alone time with Harland, nobody was getting the pretty blatant angrily-poking-the-fire hints. That was one of the few scenes from the movie that's not in the book--however, the fact that Danny slept closer to Harland than she did every night in the book and no one was ever alone is also a recipe for disaster.

Major props to Jeanne Crain by the way. I think she managed to pull off sweet but inwardly exasperated, Ruth in this book not so much--she's cloyingly sweet. You almost feel for Ellen at one point when she's disappointed that Dick likes her sister, because she’s just so damned GOOD. But this book has it all--world's dumbest guy gets tricked into marriage by an obsessed sociopath, who then goes Basic Instinct 1944. Ellen Harland is one of the great villains in literature and screen and I'm very glad I read this book. There's a strange focus on the pastoral and country folk that I found myself glazing over and there are a lot of what I suspect are repetitive passages about the flora and fauna of New Mexico, Maine, and Massachusetts. I know I read a great deal about porcupines, salmon, and sagebrush to last me a while. It would have been a better and tighter book if a lot of that was cut.

The juxtaposition of the two natural disasters that happen though is kind of interesting, and not in the movie--Harland gets trapped in a flood with Ellen and hence gets persuaded into marrying her; then gets trapped later in a wildfire with Ruth. So if you enjoyed the movie, and want more backstory and scenes then you should really enjoy the book. It's a (rather flowery) noir set in the woods and courtroom drama. My favorite part of the witness stand in the book was this:

"That's what she did. She was a greedy, jealous, sexy, murderous, heartless, shrewd woman. She could do it, and she would do it, and she did do it." His voice grew shrill with angry scorn. "That's the sort of hairpin she was."

One odd note is the back cover synopsis is wrong. Did they not have someone at the publishing house who read this book? I mean I think even a Wiki entry has more accurate information. "Ellen's beauty was radiant, and Harland, smitten with her personality and strength of her character, knew he could never leave her. When he found that she returned his adoration, he could marry her with joy." That is like the exact OPPOSITE of what happens in the book (and the movie) and is mentioned over and over in the book, so that's weird and a first for me.

However, I have a bunch more coming my ways from this reissue series and don't really care that much about accuracy in back covers.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a trashy novel in a clothbound disguise. It's one of the many mysterious books that I've found in my moms house. Mysterious because no one remembers buying them or bringing them there. I vaguely remember the movie with Gene Tierney. I hate book Quinton, but movie Quinton was Vincent Price.

I felt like the book was following all the film code rules, it was strange. Ellen was the Bad Woman, which means interesting and complex, but EVIL. Ruth was the Good Woman, very agreeable and bland. I'm sure a lot of women who read this book found themselves identifying with Ellen sometimes and then feeling guilty.

Another film code sort of thing was that Ellen and Harland had twin beds even when their marriage was happy. There is a history about married people having twin beds, but I'm sure in the 40's they would share, despite what we see in the movies.

I just felt he could have went further. There were some insightful moments sometimes. Like when Ellen told Harland that women like reading about women. Someone should have told the writer that women like reading about complex women, and would therefor be bored after Ellen died.

There were some really creepy moments too. So I guess I recommend the book, but only if you find it in a rented cabin by a lake.

[Samantha Glasser]

"'We'd always be either on the peaks, sublimely happy, or in the bleak valleys of anger and despair,' he told himself; and he knew he would prefer to dwell in a pleasant intervale, one of those lovely spots which so often he had seen along a northern river, where the grassy meadows were dotted with tall graceful elms, and quiet deer came feeding..."

"I'm terribly jealous of all the years when I didn't know Richard, and of all the people who did know him then, and of everything he did and said and thought from the very first, when he was a baby." I completely relate to this sentiment. It was the same feeling I had with my husband when we were first getting to know each other.

Ellen's pushiness and impulsiveness remind me of the girls I know who have had lots of failed relationships. They can't play the long game. They get swept up in the passion of the moment and when that fades they find they have no foundation to grow a life. "Wake up! Wake up, sleepy head! Pay attention to me!"

I read this with the Silver Screen Book Club.

[Bookish Ally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Americana! Also watched the 1945 film noir with Gene Tierney and Vincent Price. 3.75 stars for atmosphere!

[Lee Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't seen this movie in thirty years, I'm guessing, but I did remember how messed up the plot was. Mid-century melodrama, a portrait of a deranged woman, whose illness is obsessive, possessive love, and she will stop at nothing to have the man she loves (her father or her husband) all to herself.

[Tina Tamman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very satisfying although I would not be able to identify the genre. I see it's been described as a bestseller but that is not a genre. It is vivid in descriptions: beautiful landscapes, fishing, a close-knit group of well-off people and plenty of high drama, including a courtroom trial. It could hardly be shorter (my usual complaint about modern fat novels - and this was first published in 1944 - is that they are too long, full of padding). No wonder that it has been made into a film, only slightly inferior to the book. The strength of the novel for me is that it takes place in the United States, a country I don't know, and the settings are semi-rural. I had to look up some places on the map, which I like. And I very much like the ending, the final chapter.
Strictly speaking, nobody is murdered - hence my question about the genre. It is the novel's focus on character, murderous character, that fascinates me - obviously fascinated the author. However, he has spent so much energy on drawing the portrait of Ellen that other characters are very pale by comparison. Even the central male character, Harland, is not that convincing. Aged 30 and writing novels - I would have expected more of him, more of his observations, particularly towards the end when he just goes through the motions. Then again, novels where hardly anybody works, life is financially easy, there is a lot of leisure, seem a bit artificial to me.
Reading it now, nearly 80 years later, makes me wonder about the forest fires that have been in the news recently. How is it that Williams knew that they burn out themselves - and the forest fire in the novel does just that - but our real-life news only shows firefighters at work and nobody expects the fire to burn out?

[Hunter Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing insight into human relationships. In this case, it's all about the main character's possessive and maniacal obsession. Where is the line between loving another person and devouring them?

I find this subject fascinating. I guess it's the duality of her nature that attracts me. On the one hand, you feel a slight bit of empathy for Ellen Berent (the 'her' in the title) in the beginning pages. I mean, she's obviously assertive and forthright, but aren't these considered good qualities? She also can be charming and caring. There is a lot to admire about her on one level. It's only natural that others would be critical of her because of her successes and her abilities, out of a latent jealousy. But of course, as the book progresses, and I don't think I'm giving anything away, you gradually understand that she's a total monster.

This is considered an "old" book, written in 1944. It was a bestseller and of course it was made into an outstanding film in 1946. I first read it in the late 1970s, and I like it just as much as I do today. In some ways it is timeless. If you have seen the film, some of the minor plot holes of the movie are resolved and answered in this book. It is 430 plus pages, which was kind of the standard length back then. It feels a little overlong after the climax of the book. I mean it goes on for another 30 to 50 pages when really it could have just ended. That's the only reason I give it 4 stars instead of 5, but really that's quibbling. It's a solid 4.5 in a perfect world, most definitely.

[Pamela · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a mess! The pacing is all over the place, the characters are ridiculous--not only are they all good or all bad, they are as thin as tissue paper, and the writing--Oh Dear Me!

I like descriptive writing as well as the next person, but what I do NOT like is repetitive descriptive writing. Let's talk about foxes as an example. On page 14, Williams writes: "querulous whining bark of a fox not far away." Then on page 143 he writes: "the whining bark of foxes in the night." If that's not enough, on page 208 there is "the whining bark of a fox." I get it. Foxes have whining barks. This is only one example. There are others.

The idea for this book is good, but there is just not enough "there" there to make a 400+ page novel. A short story perhaps if he could pump up his characters, tidy up his pacing, and cut out 2/3 of the freakin' foxes.

I made it to 70% (page 299) and gave up. Too much good stuff out there to read without wasting eye-time of something as pathetic as this.

[Lorry Chwazik · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally got to reading this novel after my third (!) viewing of the 1945 movie version starring Gene Tierney. This tale of a woman’s possessive love was revealed in Technicolor splendor in the film - Tierney’s shockingly blue eyes and precisely painted lips throughout are memorable film moments, but that infamous lake scene in which she coolly ensconces herself in a rowboat and smoothly dons sunglasses while committing pure evil...unforgettable! I thought my familiarity with the film would make short work of the novel in which it is based, but was pleasantly surprised to find the lush and redolent writing both evoked a certain time and place and took a deep dive into each character’s development and motivations. Loved it.

[Carolynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a real oldie but goodie, having been a best seller in 1944! It inspired the 1945 movie with Cornel Wilde, Gene Tierney, and Jeanne Crain as Ruth, surely the most put-upon movie heroine of the decade. The book is pretty close to the movie, with a manipulative beauty who loves and captivates a famous novelist, with her gentle adopted sister in the background. So great is her obsession, Ellen will go to any length to keep her beloved Richard away from anyone who threatens their marriage. Any length. Still an absorbing read.

[Christie Santo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sorrowful story filled with love, longing, and intense introspection for what has been with beautiful meaning given to past pain. Though ending sooner than I wanted, this story felt epic and the journey was well worth the read.

[Alex (Alex's Version)]

The book "Leave Her to Heaven" by Ben Ames Williams offers a more detailed and insightful experience compared to the movie adaptation. The book provides a deeper understanding of the characters and their motivations. The story follows Richard Harland, a successful author, who becomes infatuated with a beautiful woman named Ellen. The book delves into the complex relationships and the lengths Ellen goes to in order to get what she wants. The narrative comes full circle, offering additional insights into the townspeople and their perspectives. Overall, the book provides a captivating exploration of human nature and is a worthwhile read, even for those familiar with the movie.

[Jodell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was questioning my choice of this book in the beginning. I know now I was being set up to get my mind blown. Think Motown the Stylistics', (Didn't I blow your mind this time, didn't I)? Why yes Ben Ames Williams you did.

I'm usually not surprised by anything I read anymore. I'm so glad I continued on my journey in continuing the slow burn of 4 days to get through this book because it finally got my attention.

Seriously this book was written in 1944. I was not even alive then. It has within the pages blind love, obsession, passion, manipulation, murder, classic court trial, suicide, and mental illness in its pages. I'm blown away. Although a slow burn it burned my house down 429 pages at a time.

[Boekvriendin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked it more than expected 😊

[Randal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts slowly. Picks up steam in the middle. Then grinds out an overly long trial sequence. All in all, though, a pretty good read. Now I have to go watch the movie again...

[Susan's Sweat Smells Like Literature · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable soap opera/noir