Anne Chamberlain (1) (1917–)

Difficult to know how to rate this one. It certainly doesn't deserve the hyperbolic raves on the front and back over (and first inside page) such as "Once in a great while a suspense novel is hailed as a masterpiece by both mystery reviewers and critics of serious fiction." Or, "Hypnotic narrative power is such that the reader is on the verge of yelling an alarm...as good a chase story as Graham Greene or Eric Ambler ever wrote." GIVE ME A BREAK, PLEASE!! I picked this up in the used book store because of these blurbs and because of the pretty neat cover and the fact that it is one of those slightly smaller than usual Dell paperbacks. For some reason, I find it hard not to buy books that size.....

Putting that aside, what we are left with here is the story of a 13 year old girl (with very very good vision apparently) who witnesses a murder on a distant hillside while staring out the school window during her 6th period study hall. When she sees the murderer waiting for her outside the school, her problems really begin. Because, you see, she doesn't have any friends, or anyone she can walk home with, or anyone she can confide in because she has this bad habit of spreading untrue rumors about people and making up wild tales that have made people unwilling to believe or help her.

Now this makes it sounds pretty bad, but the writer is much better than that. As she weaves in the girl's personal history, the story takes on more complexity and interest. Throughout the rest of a long long afternoon, the girl starts to remember her real father, whose memory she had completely buried. These past tidbits are strewn throughout the narrative as she hides from the murderer. Along the way, there are some affecting scenes and the book manages to engage the reader quite well. It is not a masterpiece of suspense, however. It is probably best targeted at high school girls, as it is more of a juvenile tale. They will perhaps identify with Sarah as she finds the truth within her.… (altro)