I liked this book I really did and yay because I have been reading some duds LOL but this held my attention and made me want to read and to find out what was happening to the characters I got to know..The story follows a beautiful, successful married couple seeming to have it all--money, love, success and fame but also a closet full of secrets, lies and hidden agendas. I liked the way their story was drawn you felt their tense love and their attempt to show a brave front to the world when they were crumbling inside..one of my favorite quotes comes from the wife Anne on page 26 "Her father once told her to learn from ducks on a pond: they glide across the surface seemingly without effort but beneath the surface they are paddling like mad" Loved this quote as it so aptly described each of the characters perfectly.. Day by day Anne and her husband Charles stretch their niceties to push along their marriage when then enters the all too helpful, pretty but plain and extra mysterious Emma as first a temp to Anne at her thriving magazine then as an assistant to novelist Charles as he struggles to make a novel people want to buy after the classic lofty first novel of his career. I really connected to his story too as it must be difficult especially as a writer to continue to get better and sound the same but still recognizable and fresh and so when Emma comes to help fresh off the heels of his latest book failure and happens to show him a sample of her own writing why he is too pleased to mentor the shy girl and in his own way nurse his own creativity on another novel attempt..And it is with this plot that the novel begins and the mounting suspense between the trio builds and builds..overall I liked Emma's character the best and found the ending alittle underwhelming as I just expected more of a twist/surprise but honestly I do suppose it was realistic just not my favorite..In short this was a great read that goes fast and entertains you in a Ruth Rendell/Iris Murdoch/Donald Westlake kinda way...dry and dark humor but entertaining and compulsively addictive reading..:)
