The Arrangement
by Suzanne
Forster
Suspense
better than Hitchcock !
Publisher: Mira
(May 2007)
The Arrangement creates a heart
chilling tale of suspense by adding echoes of some of the best suspense
classics into a new context that will delight readers. The plot,
characterization and detours are subtly prepared but this book is so
much more than a well-written book!
Andrew Villard's wife had disappeared at sea three days ago when he
spots something shiny while searching for her. He pulls a near lifeless
body out of the ocean. Realizing that the shiny bracelet on her wrist
belongs to his wife Alison Fairmont Villard, he saves her life and
hires the best plastic surgeons to reconstruct her reef-battered face
from photographs. Alison wakes up in the hospital with a case of
amnesia. She does not recognize her face nor the man who calls himself
her husband. Circumstances force her to trust him and accept the
scandalous arrangement he offers --- even though her intuition balks at
the idea. She has her own secrets to hide. When an FBI agent Tony
Bogart appears, he is determined to prove Andrew's guilt in Alison's
accident. With Tony's personal vendetta as motivation, no hidden
evidence is safe. Can the arrangement protect her or has she created an
even more deadly threat by accepting it?
Suzanne Foster's portrayal of a severely dysfunctional families is
heart-chilling. Every character, whether primary or secondary, has a
role to play in a carefully prepared and unfolding nexus of suspense.
Beyond the literary and stylistic perfection of this novel, The Arrangement strikes the heart
of suspense fans with familiar echoes in a new chord. Take my favorite
two Alfred Hitchcock movies, my favorite Daphne DuMaurier novel and add
just a tiny twist of my favorite Nathaniel Hawthorne short story...mix
it around and add more, transform it and you have Suzanne Forster's The Arrangement --- and yet
Foster's novel is so much better than any of those mentioned above!
Seen together with these classics, the genius of Forster's writing
becomes even more apparent. Her transformation of familiar themes into
a new story entirely new is as satisfying as the suspense!
In Suzanne Forster's The Arrangement,
no detail is gratuitous. In comparison to lesser suspense writers who
substitute gore, violence and sex for suspense, this novel needs no
substitution or addition to thrill suspense fans. Now, there are
definitely murders here, a kinky scene (which absolutely must be there
for the perfect & satisfying resolution) and definitely some
disturbed people, but this novel is true suspense at its best. Each
detail is carefully prepared, each character's secrets add to the
heightening suspense, no detour is superfluous but rather adds to the
vision of the disturbed world. The carefully prepared trails twist and
turn to the perfect resolution. Magnificent!
Don't forget to read the dedication before AND after completing this
novel. Heartwarming!
Reviewed by Merrimon,
Merrimon Book Reviews
