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Spider Girl
It's the early 1980s and 23-year-old Sarah Jordan, a PhD student at an American university, is studying spiders…
Sarah finds her studies so absorbing, that much of campus life seems to pass her by.
She barely registers her research assistant’s interest in her, even though Don is the college Lothario and pursued by many female students.
Even Sarah’s relationships with family and friends are perfunctory and distant, but that, it seems, is how she prefers to live.
When Sarah is filmed for a TV documentary about spiders, she meets a psychologist involved in the show, and the pair strike up a friendship.
As they spend more and more time together, Sarah realises that she wants more than friendship from Dr Cunningham and he gradually discovers just why Sarah is the way she is.
Meanwhile, dubbed ‘Spider Girl’ by the media for her involvement in a ground-breaking show about those arachnids, Sarah is drawn further and further into the world of show business.
Yet as Spider Girl becomes more and more famous, she can’t help feeling that Sarah is slowly fading away.
For Sarah, Spider Girl is a refuge and a way to feel better about herself. But what are the implications of Spider Girl for the people around her?
When a man is found dead in the college gymnasium, people begin to wonder…
For Don, what begins as a mission to love and save Sarah turns into a living nightmare.
Will he be able to save Spider Girl from herself?
And if he does not, where will she strike next?
Spider Girl is an intense thriller filled with dark mystery and suspense.
Sarah finds her studies so absorbing, that much of campus life seems to pass her by.
She barely registers her research assistant’s interest in her, even though Don is the college Lothario and pursued by many female students.
Even Sarah’s relationships with family and friends are perfunctory and distant, but that, it seems, is how she prefers to live.
When Sarah is filmed for a TV documentary about spiders, she meets a psychologist involved in the show, and the pair strike up a friendship.
As they spend more and more time together, Sarah realises that she wants more than friendship from Dr Cunningham and he gradually discovers just why Sarah is the way she is.
Meanwhile, dubbed ‘Spider Girl’ by the media for her involvement in a ground-breaking show about those arachnids, Sarah is drawn further and further into the world of show business.
Yet as Spider Girl becomes more and more famous, she can’t help feeling that Sarah is slowly fading away.
For Sarah, Spider Girl is a refuge and a way to feel better about herself. But what are the implications of Spider Girl for the people around her?
When a man is found dead in the college gymnasium, people begin to wonder…
For Don, what begins as a mission to love and save Sarah turns into a living nightmare.
Will he be able to save Spider Girl from herself?
And if he does not, where will she strike next?
Spider Girl is an intense thriller filled with dark mystery and suspense.
262 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 1980
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 12, 2017
Now I have been properly taught a lesson in fright. First I read about a female serial killer in Alex , and then launched into this macabre tale that tempts you into believing it will be the innocent story of a struggling graduate student who loves spiders. Yeah, not so innocent.
Fortunately, I was able to dose myself with antidote of Christmas short stories from this site: https://americanliterature.com/christmas
and other good short stories as well....feeling better.
Fortunately, I was able to dose myself with antidote of Christmas short stories from this site: https://americanliterature.com/christmas
and other good short stories as well....feeling better.
January 21, 2018
My edition is by Peter Lear, matching ISBN. I've had this book on my shelves for a long time, thought I'd try to knock it out...
August 7, 2019
Peter Lear is a pen name for Peter Lovesey. He wrote three books under that name, for reasons I have yet to comprehend.
I have read two of the Lear books. The first I read, The Secrets of Spandau, could very easily have been a Lovesey book. Spider Girl, not so much.
This is a psychological study. There was obviously a significant amount of research put in to this work. And for that Lovesey is to be commended.
The characters are only marginally formed. The story moves at a slower pace than in a Lovesey book (which may explain the pen name). The descriptions of New York City in 1980 are spot on. There are neighborhoods described exactly as they were back then, ones no sane person would set foot in at the time, but with foresight would have been a genius to buy property at the time. And I have to wonder if that can resonate with a modern reader. The East Village and Chelsea were burned out ghettoes back then; they are shopping malls today.
There is a very Lovesey-esque twist late in the book that redeemed the work to the point I would say I could give this 2-1/2 stars.
But then there were the tell-tale signs of a British author writing a story taking place in America - a plaster means something very specific in the UK. It does not mean the same thing in the US.
I respect the research Mr. Lovesey put in to this book to build his story. But this one does just not quit work.
I have read two of the Lear books. The first I read, The Secrets of Spandau, could very easily have been a Lovesey book. Spider Girl, not so much.
This is a psychological study. There was obviously a significant amount of research put in to this work. And for that Lovesey is to be commended.
The characters are only marginally formed. The story moves at a slower pace than in a Lovesey book (which may explain the pen name). The descriptions of New York City in 1980 are spot on. There are neighborhoods described exactly as they were back then, ones no sane person would set foot in at the time, but with foresight would have been a genius to buy property at the time. And I have to wonder if that can resonate with a modern reader. The East Village and Chelsea were burned out ghettoes back then; they are shopping malls today.
There is a very Lovesey-esque twist late in the book that redeemed the work to the point I would say I could give this 2-1/2 stars.
But then there were the tell-tale signs of a British author writing a story taking place in America - a plaster means something very specific in the UK. It does not mean the same thing in the US.
I respect the research Mr. Lovesey put in to this book to build his story. But this one does just not quit work.
November 8, 2025
Perhaps I expected too much…
The development of the story is slow, there is no twist and turn worth mentioning. The first half of the book is interesting and engaging enough but pretty flat and boring. The ending is rushed.
The development of the story is slow, there is no twist and turn worth mentioning. The first half of the book is interesting and engaging enough but pretty flat and boring. The ending is rushed.
November 19, 2016
A Creepy Psychological Thriller:
"Spider Girl" is a well written, rather unusual novel. An escapist, light, entertaining read.
It is based around the staff, students and research staff in the Ecology Department at Henry Hudson University. The Head of the Department, Jerry Berlin, is obsessed with funding and publicity, his secretary meanwhile qualifies as gossip of the year and the two post grad students in the Department are ardent rivals. The specialised research of both post grad students is arachnology: the study of spiders. The very insects which give so many of us the creeps.
A TV documentary shot in the Department proves to be the turning point for one of these students who is discovered to have a natural talent for TV presentation. The plot then develops about two thirds of the way through the book into a psychological thriller with unforeseen developments arising from Media publicity.
The interplay between the characters is very enjoyable whilst the characters themselves are both interesting and realistic. If the novel has a fault it lies in the ending which I found a shade predictable.
That said I found the novel an escapist, easy light read and thoroughly enjoyed it.
(My review was based on an eBook file provided to me free of charge by the publisher via NetGalley. My review is totally independent.)
"Spider Girl" is a well written, rather unusual novel. An escapist, light, entertaining read.
It is based around the staff, students and research staff in the Ecology Department at Henry Hudson University. The Head of the Department, Jerry Berlin, is obsessed with funding and publicity, his secretary meanwhile qualifies as gossip of the year and the two post grad students in the Department are ardent rivals. The specialised research of both post grad students is arachnology: the study of spiders. The very insects which give so many of us the creeps.
A TV documentary shot in the Department proves to be the turning point for one of these students who is discovered to have a natural talent for TV presentation. The plot then develops about two thirds of the way through the book into a psychological thriller with unforeseen developments arising from Media publicity.
The interplay between the characters is very enjoyable whilst the characters themselves are both interesting and realistic. If the novel has a fault it lies in the ending which I found a shade predictable.
That said I found the novel an escapist, easy light read and thoroughly enjoyed it.
(My review was based on an eBook file provided to me free of charge by the publisher via NetGalley. My review is totally independent.)
April 23, 2015
A girl who relates to spiders, how could this go wrong? Well in my opinion it did. It had such great potential with a very interesting concept but I just found it never really grabbed my attention. Nothing really exciting happened until I read almost half the book. This book just didn't grab me like it should have.
February 20, 2016
This was NOT one of the author's Inspector Diamond books, which I like. It is about a woman who becomes obsessed with spiders and their mating rituals. I wouldn't recommend it.
December 5, 2011
An interesting story of a woman who identifies with spiders. Not fully convincing but an unusual theme.
March 15, 2016
Well researched, well developed story...just couldn't get into the characters too deeply......
August 20, 2008
Crazy woman scientist who studies spiders begins to believe that she is spider girl. Dumb!
April 18, 2016
always entertaining
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews