A Perfect Crime

Rating:
Summary: A Novel of Coincidences and Twists
Review: A Perfect Crime is a great psychological thriller that races away at the beginning but becomes slightly derailed at the end. The basic premise is: Francie and Ned are having an affair. Francie's vile husband Roger finds out about it and plans to kill them both. However, the twists and coincidences that occur are startling and exciting and make this thriller into something very original.

I especially loved the backdrop to this thriller. The weather is always cold and icy and the house where Francie and Ned meet in centred on an island and can only be reached by rowing across in a small boat. These elements provide great atmosphere and originality. Roger is diabolical and I enjoyed the contrast between how he viewed himself (clever, self assured) and the way others saw him (strange nutcase!).

Overall A Perfect Crime is a competent thriller with short sections and snappy dialogue. The characters are well developed although certain aspects seemed unlikely such as Roger thinking he'd be able to control Whitey Truax so perfectly that he could commit the perfect murder where he couldn't be implicated. However, this book is filled with suspense and surprises, so you'd be wise to give it a go. I'm glad I did.

JoAnne

Rating:
Summary: A Novel of Coincidences and Twists
Review: A Perfect Crime is a great psychological thriller that races away at the beginning but becomes slightly derailed at the end. The basic premise is: Francie and Ned are having an affair. Francie's vile husband Roger finds out about it and plans to kill them both. However, the twists and coincidences that occur are startling and exciting and make this thriller into something very original.

I especially loved the backdrop to this thriller. The weather is always cold and icy and the house where Francie and Ned meet in centred on an island and can only be reached by rowing across in a small boat. These elements provide great atmosphere and originality. Roger is diabolical and I enjoyed the contrast between how he viewed himself (clever, self assured) and the way others saw him (strange nutcase!).

Overall A Perfect Crime is a competent thriller with short sections and snappy dialogue. The characters are well developed although certain aspects seemed unlikely such as Roger thinking he'd be able to control Whitey Truax so perfectly that he could commit the perfect murder where he couldn't be implicated. However, this book is filled with suspense and surprises, so you'd be wise to give it a go. I'm glad I did.

JoAnne

Rating:
Summary: Too many coincidences
Review: Francie and Roger Cullingwood are drifting apart. Roger has been looking for a job for the past year after being fired, Francie is unhappy with her marriage and she has been having an affair with radio psychologist, Ned DeMarco. She is also having doubts with her affair since meeting Ned's wife, who through unforeseen circumstances and coincidence winds up being Francie's tennis partner in an important tournament. Roger finds Francie's love nest and he has decided that he wants her dead but just like any other criminal, he does not want to get caught.

After doing some thorough research he decides to manipulate Whitey Truax into committing a crime in which his wife will turn out dead. Just like any other book things do not turn up as planned and all of Roger's scheming have gone done the tubes into a predictable conclusion. Roger thinks he is too smart and that he has planned for every eventuality and this book shows that is not entirely true.

In reading this novel I was expecting a story similar to A SIMPLE PLAN by Scott Smith. This story has too many coincidences that tempted me to stop reading the book. This is my first Peter Abrahams novel and I will try to read him again in the future. He does a good job with characterization but to me the plot fizzled. There were some loose ends that were not clarified and there were at least two characters in the book that I found to be redundant to the storyline. I do not think removing them would have made any difference but that is just how I feel.

Rating:
Summary: A sly and suspenseful tour de force
Review: In "A Perfect Crime" Peter Abrahams gives us several well-developed characters, then sets them on a collision course that is as unpredictable as it is inevitable. We know the scenario can only lead to disaster, but what kind? And who will be the ultimate victim(s)? The pace picks up, the complications multiply, and the plot switches gears often enough to keep readers guessing till the end. A really well-written story.

Rating:
Summary: Heir to Ira Levin
Review: Not that Ira Levin is gone or anything, but his output has slowed considerably now that he is in old age. In any case, though he isn't quite as good as Levin, Abrahams is very close to being so, and that's a tall order I wouldn't have believed any other American suspense novelist to be capable of. In Abrahams' case, his plots are a little less organic than Levin's, not quite so high concept, but he is twisty as all get out and his characters are amazingly real. You really get caught up in their dilemmas even if some of them are just plain bad apples.

Francie is having an affair with Ned because, well, just because. Roger, her husband, is so weird and cold that in a way you don't blame her, and yet on the other hand, as she comes to realize, she is hurting an innocent woman by sleeping with her husband. She gets hung up on this infidelity thing, as her natural decency kicks in once she befriends Anne at the local tennis club. I don't even like tennis but Abrahams is great at evoking the kick of it, the primal tensions it releases, how the game can hook you in and take you to a place you've never been taken before.

I didn't really buy the part about Whitey Truax and why Roger thought he could possibly control him, but to be fair Abrahams builds Roger up as kind of a Nietzchean superman who's dumb as a post, so I guess it fits. Whitey makes you squirm he's so vicious and horny, but there's also a lot of class resentment between Whitey and Roger that's perfectly done, worthy of a Henry Roth or a Zora Neale Hurston. Abrahams is a literary artist, and each of his books presents another technical problem he solves with the assurance and inventiveness of Flaubert. Here, in A PERFECT CRIME, he approaches the heights of THE TUTOR, not only his own TUTOR, but that of Henry James.

Rating:
Summary: Solid, but not overwhelming
Review: Revolving around a brilliant man's desire to punish his unfaithful wife, it's not really a new story--but there's nothing inherently wrong with stories that have been told before as long as they are executed well. "A Perfect Crime" is well-executed, with a few nicely suspenseful scenes. It's hard to tell if Abrahams really means the title, or if it's a humorous allusion to the primary atagonist's extreme hubris--after all, the crime in question has more than a few flaws. As with almost any mystery, the plot relies on some developments that strain believability, although good characterization and some nicely written scenes carry the day for Abrahams here. I am a bit taken aback by the somewhat lavish praise heaped on this book, by Stephen King and others--it's certainly nothing exceptional, just well-executed suspense. Then again, with the volume of mediocre work on the shelves these days, perhaps a solidly executed story can pass for exceptional. Recommended, just don't expect the world.

Rating:
Summary: very good
Review: Roger Cullingwood discovers that his wife Francie is having an affair with Ned Demarco, so Roger decides that Francie must die. Roger hatches a perfect murder or did he?

The quality of the writing grabs you on the first page. Characters are drawn with accuracy and keen insight. The plot is beautifully developed. It is suspenseful but not in a predictable way, you see what's coming, but trust me you are still surprised and amazed. This book has several graphic love scenes.

Peter Abrahams is the author of eight previous novels, including " The Fan" and "Lights Out", which was nominated for an Edgar Award for best novel.

Rating:
Summary: Gripping!
Review: Roger Cullingwood discovers that his wife Francie is having an affair with Ned Demarco, so Roger decides that Francie must die. Roger hatches a perfect murder or did he?

The quality of the writing grabs you on the first page. Characters are drawn with accuracy and keen insight. The plot is beautifully developed. It is suspenseful but not in a predictable way, you see what's coming, but trust me you are still surprised and amazed. This book has several graphic love scenes.

Pam @ MyShelf.Com

Rating:
Summary: A PERFECT FAUXPAUX
Review: The way I see it, the genius with the 181 IQ(on a bad day), was actually the village idiot, and the only really good person in the book was unjustly treated.

This is one of those books that I finished because I always finish books I start. This book is nothing more than a case of double and triple crosses. The bad guys are really stupid and the good ones are clueless. This is not an exciting book, but is okay if there is nothing else around.

Rating:
Summary: A PERFECT BLACK COMEDY
Review: There are some really funny scenes in the middle of this book that come out of nowhere, but are so well done, they make this Abrahams book a real winner. Since many have already rehashed the plot, I'd like to focus on some of the characters and subtle ironies that enhance the book. Roger Cullingwood is a perfect idiot, although a brilliant one; some of his rationalizations and thought processes are so bad you have to wonder how he's survived as long as he has. His wife, Francie, has many layers and when she suddenly becomes friends with her lover's wife, it really puts her in a pickle. Anne, the wife of Ned (Francie's lover) is a real whiner, but her depth is brought out once she becomes friends with Francie. Ned, the lover, is a real jerk, and his true personality comes out at the end, and even though you knew it was coming, you still want to bash his head in. The character of Whitey Truax is another one of Abrahams' really sick villains, and his pact with Roger can only end up one way, of course. Who gets murdered comes as a mild surprise, and the clue the person leaves is muddled until you finish the book, flash back and remember why the clue was left. The addition of Joe Savand, the cop whose wife was Truax's first victim, is nice, and his role in the novel comes to a nice fruition in the unexpected ending. Lots of sex talk and gory violence, but it's a great read. I liked it much better than "Crying Wolf," and that was good, too!