Nina Todd Has Gone

by Lesley Glaister

He leant close so I could feel his breath on my ear. 'You and I both know,' he said, 'that there is no such thing as good.' Nina Todd is not the sort of person you'd notice in the street - and that's the way she likes it. She keeps her head down and tries to live a quiet dull job, dependable boyfriend, no disruptions. If there are questions about Nina that remain unanswered, they are questions that even those closest to her don't dare to ask. When Nina meets the unnervingly handsome Rupert during a conference, it leads to the kind of empty adulterous encounter that she'd rather forget. But it soon becomes clear that Rupert doesn't feel the same way, and when he starts to turn up everywhere - gorgeous, worrying, distracting - her carefully constructed life begins to fall apart. He won't let her out of his sight - is it pure infatuation, or something more sinister? Who is Rupert, and what is the power he holds over her? And who is Nina Todd? Nina Todd Has Gone explores what happens when ordinary lives are turned upside-down and their darkest secrets exposed. As gripping as a thriller, this is a masterly novel from the author of As Far As You Can Go.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Novels, Adult Fiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Novelist Lesley Glaister was born in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England. She grew up in Suffolk, moving to Sheffield with her first husband, where she took a degree with the Open University. She was 'discovered' by the novelist Hilary Mantel when she attended a course given by the Arvon Foundation in 1989. Mantel was so impressed by her writing that she recommended her to her own literary agent.

Lesley Glaister's first novel, Honour Thy Father (1990), won both a Somerset Maugham Award and a Betty Trask Award. Her other novels include Trick or Treat (1991), Limestone and Clay (1993), for which she was awarded the Yorkshire Post Book Award (Yorkshire Author of the Year), Partial Eclipse (1994) and The Private Parts of Women (1996), Now You See Me (2001), the story of the unlikely relationship between Lamb, a former patient in a psychiatric ward, and Doggo, a fugitive on the run from the police, As Far as You Can Go (2004), a psychological drama, in which a young couple, Graham and Cassie, travel to a remote part of Australia to take up a caretaking job, only to be drawn into the dark secrets of their mysterious employers. Nina Todd Has Gone (2007) was another complex psychological thriller. Chosen, a dark and suspenseful book about a woman trying to rescue her brother from a cult, was followed by Little Egypt in 2014. This novel - set in the 20's in Northern England and Egypt, won a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award. Her next novel, The Squeeze, published 2017, centres on a relationship between a teenage Romanian sex-worker - a victim of trafficking - and a law-abiding, family man from Oslo. It's an unusual and (of course, twisted!) love story. Because not all love is romantic. In 2020 Blasted Things was published. This one is set just after World War 1 and is about the warping after-effects of a global war on society and on individuals. The two main characters, Clementine and Vincent, both damaged in different ways, must find their way in the post-war period. For them this results in a most peculiar kind of relationship and one that can only end in distaster.

Lesley Glaister lives with her husband in Edinburgh with frequent sojourns in Orkney. She has three sons and teaches Creative Writing at the University or St Andrews. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Reviews

[Cleopatra Pullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nina Todd meets Rupert,' the most handsome man she has ever seen in real life,' while attending a work training course. She returns home to her boyfriend Charlie, her office job and hopes to leave her indiscretion at the hotel and return to her normal life. Unfortunately Rupert wants more....

Nina Todd has Gone is a slow burning psychological thriller. From the flashbacks in between the chapters we learn more about Nina's early life, and in turn Rupert's early life as well as his current thoughts. These narratives slowly reveal more about Nina, Rupert as well as Charlie, Charlie's mother and his reclusive brother Dave.

I find it hard to say whether I liked Nina's character, I couldn't truly sympathise with her as Lesley Glaister cleverly feeds us the consequences of her actions reflected by Rupert and Charlie.

This is ultimately a book about who is good, who is right and none of the characters were. If you like endings that wrap up neatly and tie everything in a bow this is not the book for you.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an unsatisfying read. The premise was interesting - a woman has a one night stand with a stranger and finds she can't shake him off. Almost every character in the book has a secret.

But the twist came early, if indeed there ever was one. And Nina's background and her childhood was explained, but not Rupert/Mark's. The story just kind of fizzled out towards the end and became predictable and unsurprising.

[R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Nina Todd has gone and so has Karen. It’s late. I’ll walk to
Novotel and get a room. I’ll have a bath. My name, I think, is
Lauren Field. Do you like that? I have a gut feeling about Lauren
Field. She will not be perfect, but she might be good."

Not a Bad Story, Good Ending

کمی بیخود طولانی بود
بعضی چیزا اصلا لازم نبود و خیلی چیزا هم مبهم بود، مثلا دلیل قتل خواهر روپرت رو من نفهمیدم
با توجه به آخرش فکر میکنم قتل غیر عمد بوده
آخرش خوب بود و سه نمره برای همینه

[David Staniforth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read many of Lesley Glaister's books and enjoyed them, but I felt this fell short of the mark.

The usual flashes of brilliance are there in the way this author uses descriptive language, but for me other aspects let it down. The tale is told from the perspective of different characters (Nina & Rupert) in 1st person present tense. with inserted chapters told in 3rd person past tense. I did not have an issue with this, I just think it could have been handled better. Rather than build character development strong enough to let the reader know which character's headspace we are in from the outset of the chapter, Glaister relies instead on symbols at the chapter heading. This technique constantly dragged me out of the narrative, as I reminded myself what/who the symbol represented.

Nonetheless it was an enjoyable read.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a re-read, having first read it over 20 years ago.

Nina has come out of prison, changed her name and started a new job in Sheffield. The mysterious Rupert worms his way into her life, causing Nina to go into a panic.

Luckily, I didn't remember the details so it was new to me. It was an enjoyable read, but not as good as some of her other books.

My favourite bit:

The seals were the same shades as the stones. Once I'd seen one I saw that there were many more. I could feel their eyes on me, gentle and wary. Sleek black masks lifted from the water to peer. As they shifted, the basking seals made little personal grunting sounds. They moved like people inside sacks, heaving and lumping themselves about. The pup closed its eyes and began to snore, nostrils fluttering open and shut. I went into a kind of dream, soothed by the blubbery softness, a lovely, solid, gentle company. But when I got up to move they panicked, humphing and galumphing off the rocks in a commotion of churning water.

Just lovely!

[Yvann S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summary from the back cover: Nina Todd is not the sort of person you'd notice - and that's the way she likes it. She lives a quiet life: dull job, dependable boyfriend, no disruptions. When Nina meets Rupert in a hotel, it leads to an empty adulterous encounter that she'd rather forget. But it soon becomes clear that Rupert won't. Is it pure infatuation, or something more sinister? Who is Rupert, and what is the power he holds over her? And who is Nina Todd?

I ended up not finishing this after having read about 150 pages - it got too violent. Normally I don't have an issue with violence (see the Stieg Larsson trilogy, which I loved!), but we were inside the perpetrator's mind as he planned the violence, which made me lose all interest and want to drop the book asap.

This has a really interesting premise, but the execution is weak. There is a mix-up and cover-up of identities (as you can guess already in the blurb), which is revealed to the reader very early on, and after that the suspense is that of watching a car crash - you know it's going to end badly, the question is just for whom and exactly in what manner.

Nina's behaviour didn't really match her thought process, so that was quite gripping - unreliable narrator. We get the feeling that undisclosed evil is to follow to resolve the discrepancies. Ditto Rupert is clearly very messed-up - why is he so set on avenging his sister, when her death doesn't really seem to have affected his parents all that much (they grieve, but are not vengeful)? Rupert's parents were very dull - there was only a small examination of the impact of the murder on the parents. All in all, the characters were pretty flat - two really evil ones, a cheerful but dopey boyfriend, a mother-in-law who's a bit resentful of the new girlfriend and a bit difficult but has no character development... and everyone else was very much just a name and a few character traits thrown together.

The flashback structure really didn't help either - it wasn't always immediately clear in whose head we were revisiting the past, nor was that much relevance of the flashback to the present day plot apparent.

However, it gets 3/10 on plot device.

[Susan Mackie Powers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Twisted Story of Revenge

Nina Todd has a nice, pleasant life. She has a job she likes well enough, and she has just moved in with her boyfriend, Charlie. Things are even going well with Charlie's mom, whose only complaint about Nina is her avoidance of discussing her past or anything even slightly personal. Nina has her reasons, and they are more sinister than anyone could imagine.

While away on a business trip, Nina meets Rupert, a handsome, charming man who offers to buy her dinner. She never planned on having a one night stand with him, or that he would refuse to let it go. Soon Rupert is everywhere, calling her office, chatting up her friend and threatening to tell Charlie about their tryst. He says he just wants Nina, but there is much more to it than that. Rupert is tied to her past.... Before she was Nina Todd.

Nina Todd has Gone had interesting twists and turns and kept my attention from beginning to end. It was, however, difficult for me to connect with or care about any of the characters. None of them really came alive for me and they seemed very one dimensional.

[Cleopatra Pullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nina Todd meets Rupert,' the most handsome man she has ever seen in real life,' while attending a work training course. She returns home to her boyfriend Charlie, her office job and hopes to leave her indiscretion at the hotel and return to her normal life. Unfortunately Rupert wants more....

Nina Todd has Gone is a slow burning psychological thriller. From the flashbacks in between the chapters we learn more about Nina's early life, and in turn Rupert's early life as well as his current thoughts. These narratives slowly reveal more about Nina, Rupert as well as Charlie, Charlie's mother and his reclusive brother Dave.

I find it hard to say whether I liked Nina's character, I couldn't truly sympathise with her as Lesley Glaister cleverly feeds us the consequences of her actions reflected by Rupert and Charlie.

This is ultimately a book about who is good, who is right and none of the characters were. If you like endings that wrap up neatly and tie everything in a bow this is not the book for you.

[Celia · Rating 2 out of 5]

A passable thriller - Nina Todd has a one night stand on a work retreat, and rushes home early to her partner, full of remorse. Then the man she slept with begins stalking her, and the secrets in her past threaten to become exposed.

The narrative is split into Nina's narrative, and the man stalking her. They're both very disturbed characters, and it's difficult to connect to them - I found them both terribly off putting. Nina's motivations for some of the things she does are impossible to fathom - I'm not sure if this was done deliberately to further the "disturbed" thing, but I don't think it works. There needs to be some reasoning behind actions, even if that reasoning is completely loopy.

[Daphne · Rating 2 out of 5]

For such a short book, this was really a struggle for me to get through. I was hopeful for something interesting and suspenseful, but it really didn't live up to my expectations. This book was strange, confusing, and not particularly gripping. The only real twist in it was revealed way too early, leaving little to nothing of interest for the remainder of the book. I didn't connect to Nina and often found her decisions baffling. I got the feeling she wasn't exactly supposed to be a likable protagonist, which is fine, but I just couldn't follow her thought process through most of the book. It was often bizarre and seemed to contradict.

The flashbacks didn't add a whole lot to the plot, and I was expecting a bigger twist at the end. All in all, this was just a miss for me.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two damaged people on a collision course, unknowable damage being inflicted around them. In truth, this type of unsettling psychological thriller is a bit removed from what I prefer to read, nevertheless the skill with which Nina is drawn, the deft placing of tiny hints of not-normal and inexplicable behaviour is impressive.

A second read, much interrupted, aa a result of which I found it hard to follow; a three star review expresses my enjoyment.

[Bookread2day · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this novel such a long time ago. I bought it in a shop that has sadly closed down not long after it opened. I think it is sad when book shops close. I clearly remember not been able to put this book down. I was total glued to mystery. I have always wanted to read another book by Lesley Glaister.

[Daniel O'donovan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a little confusing in the beginning. However when I settled in to it it was very interesting. There are two viewpoints and the novel shows the same scenes twice; first from one then from the other.
I'm not sure I can say any more without giving too much away. It's not great but not bad either.

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another cheap Kindle buy, so not something I'd pick up in a shop, but I read it all and enjoyed it mostly. There were times when the protagonist had me wincing and thinking "oh no, now why did you do something as stupid as that?", but overall it was good to pass the time with this book.

[Lynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quirky writer with an interesting tale to tell. Two unreliable narrators and an implausible conclusion. Lovely interlude in North Ronaldsay in the Orkney Islands. Good summer read

[Margaret Wichorek · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young woman did a terrible thing when she was just a teenager, did her time I'm prison and has made a new life for herself in a new town far away from where she lived before. However. someone from her past has been looking for her and finds her in spite of her precautions. THis leads to a vey tense conclusion-great read,

[Sharlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its ok. Good start but becomes laborious towards the end

[Gail · Rating 2 out of 5]

Clearly not very memorable, as it turns out I've already read this...

[Graeme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story but not one of Glaister's best. Some of the actions are unbelievable and the humour usually present in Glaister is lacking. Still, I enjoyed it.

[gwen graves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alright

A different story, the people are really mixed up and story was at times a little confusing, it was ok

[Astra · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This is the third book by Lesley Glaister I've read. While I absolutely loved this book, I did not enjoy it as much as what I had read from her previously. But then that's not saying much as her other books are my very favorites. I don't know why I didn't take to this one as much. Probably because I felt very emotionally involved in her other books, whereas with Nina Todd I felt more like a third party watching things happen.

But this is an extremely good book. Lesley Glaister's writing style never ceases to amaze me. She somehow manages to write down the little things we experience every day, but can't put into words. It makes all her stories feel so real. I honestly believe that she has mastered her craft.

This also doesn't disappoint as a solid psychological thriller. It was a real page turner and was chilling in tone from start to finish. There is a bluntness to her writing that is honestly invasive. She is not afraid to unflinchingly acknowledge the darkness that dwells in all of us. But then she makes us feel sympathy and understanding for characters who have committed the most heinous crimes. So there's hope in that isn't there?

I really loved this and can't wait to read more of Glaister's writing. I'm thinking maybe Partial Eclipse or Little Egypt next. Whatever I choose, I'm pretty excited. :)

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am not a fan. This book left me feeling very unsatisfied. A story about a woman who finds herself stalked by her one-night stand definitely sounds like an interesting premise but, unfortunately for us, that's not really what this book is about. The synposis is very misleading and the book you get instead is a fractured mess of a thriller that's trying to be mysterious but falls short in all aspects.

Yes, there are times when it's subtly unsettling in that delicious psychological way, but those moments are overshadowed by the fact that half of the characters behave like aliens. There seems to be no reason for half of the things they do, they keep changing the subject in the middle of arguments/conversations, and their reactions to the things happening around them are just baffling.

And the plot is just as confusing as the characters. There is a twist (or I assume it was supposed to be a twist) but it was poorly executed and far too predictable to actually make me feel invested. There are also several jumps back and forth in time and between points of view, which only makes it feel more fractured and grating. None of this is helped by the characters who are all just so weird and off-putting. I can't relate to them at all.

In short, I was so relieved when I was done with this book and I honestly wish I hadn't decided to read it.

[Niffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not my usual sort of book at all, but I found myself not wanting to put it down. I think we all know what it's like to have things in our life we would rather move on from, and I connected personally because there are people in my life I have wanted to leave behind, only to find out they know someone I know, and it leaves you with a feeling of uncertainty, you feel exactly like you did before. I don't know if an appreciation for this book will come only if you have experienced something similar, but Lesley Glaister truly does capture people perfectly, the need to feel that you are 'good', the shame at any 'perverseness' that might not be considered normal, how people will try to make a relationship work because they want it to not because it's actually a good relationship.
the only reason this didn't get 5 stars is because the ending felt a little flat, but then I'm not sure what I would have done differently, perhaps I'm just used to more clean-cut happily ever afters!

[Claire Bateman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wouldn't read it again. It was ok. Bit confusing at the beginning. Jumps between three different perspectives and between first and third narrative, which became a bit hard hard to keep up with. Also the book isn't quite how the synopsis makes it out to be and you learn this quite early on, which disappointed me as I was looking forward to a good straightforward stalker book. Not a keeper in my opinion!

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought this was an excellent thriller. Nina, a young woman with a secret past, finds herself being stalked by someone from that past seeking revenge for her 'crime'. The book is told in three alternating parts by Nina in the present day, her 'stalker' Rupert and Nina as a child leading up to her 'crime'. Gripping throughout and very hard to put down although the ending could have been better - still 9/10 for me.

[Panagiotis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Μέτριο βιβλίο με μια μέτρια πλοκή,αλλά η συγγραφέας έχει κάνει ένα πολύ καλό ψυχολογικό πορτρέτο της πρωταγωνίστριας, που είναι και η μόνη που σωζει το βιβλίο. Οι υπόλοιποι πρωταγωνιστές αφήνονται κάπως στη τύχη τους

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this when it was published a while back and have just re read it for my book club. It was chosen as Lesley Glaister is a local author.
I have always been a big fan of hers and this novel didn't disappoint the first time round and was just as enjoyable on a second reading.

[Sherry V Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great suspense.

I have just found myself a new favorite author! This book was amazing. The characters are completely believable and the suspense builds from the very beginning and the ending is so unpredictable. I loved this book!

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lesley Glaister never disappoints. She creeps right under your skin with her eye for detail and the stories linger long after the last page is closed.

[Sheelagh · Rating 3 out of 5]

didn't like it at first...but kept going and the ending was good..a bitty confusing at times..but worth a read