REVIEW
Jeffery Deaver - A Maiden's Grave
Hodder & Stoughton (ISBN 0 340 65372 8) £16.99
A day in the life of F.B.I. hostage release negotiator Arthur Potter: three escaped convicts hijack a bus carrying eight deaf girls and their two teachers and take them to a disused slaughterhouse on the Arkansas river. Needless to say, Potter's plans for a quiet day are ruined as he again has to face the task of talking hostages back to safety.
Over 400+ pages Deaver takes us through the day of the siege from 9:30 am to midnight, never giving the reader time to relax. As the clock ticks the machinery of the hostage siege is described in detail. Deaver has obviously researched this book thoroughly, not only in his descriptions of various hostage negotiation techniques but also in his convincing description of the world of the deaf. But this wealth of detail never overwhelms the main source of tension in the book which lies in the developing relationship between negotiator Potter, Handy - the psychotic leader of the convicts, and Melanie, the youngest (deaf) teacher. As the siege develops their triangular relationship becomes increasingly ambiguous, taking some strange manipulative turns. Add to the tension produced by this walking-on-eggshells negotiation an intrusive local politician, an unscrupulous press corps and simmering resentment from the local police force and you have a truly gripping and exhausting read. The growing desperation on both sides of the barricades makes for a disorientating effect which is surreal at times as Deaver moves into the minds of his protagonists, constantly questioning their motives and urges. All the time against a background of the dripping, disused slaughterhouse. A frightening well drawn tale. Deaver makes it very difficult to put this book down. (R.L.)