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SECRET SMILE by Nicci French is a diabolical story of perception, obsession, twisted love and pure evil. The tale begins at the end of what is really a short acquaintanceship between a young woman and a young man. Their affair began in the traditional way: girl meets boy, girl and boy date, girl realizes she's not interested and calls the whole thing off. "I looked at Brendan and already he seemed to be receding into the distance. I was thinking how to say it, as cleanly and finally as possible. You can say, I don't think this is working anymore, as if the relationship was a machine … or, I don't think we should continue, as if you were both on a road together. You can say, I don't want to keep on seeing you. Only of course you don't mean see, but touch, hold, feel, want. [Then] … almost before I knew what I was about to do, I said the words. 'I don't think we should go on with this. I'm sorry Brendan. I really mean it.' "
Miranda's "relationship with Brendan had been so brief that [her] best friend, Laura, had been on holiday … and it was entirely over and in the past … when she got back and rang me. [She] didn't [even] bother to tell her about Brendan." At the start, she has no idea what her meeting, and then subsequent rejection, of him will do to her life and the lives of everyone she loves. No one could possibly foresee the venom he will spread.
Miranda is surprised when her sister, Kerry, calls out of the blue to invite her to dinner. The older woman is very excited and tells Miranda that she has some fantastic news. "[Miranda] arrived at La Table at about one minute past eight and Kerry was already there. She looked illuminated from the inside and it showed through her eyes. Almost everything about her was different." At first, in the cross-talk Miranda gets the sense that Kerry is pregnant. But that is not the news; rather, Kerry wants to announce that she has a new boyfriend. But Miranda wonders why she chose to "announce it in such a formal way."
Kerry goes on to explain: "It's a bit awkward. It really shouldn't be a problem at all, if we don't let it become one. You see my new boyfriend is 'Brendan,' she says. Isn't it amazing? He's about to arrive. He said he thought it would be good if we all got together." As if on cue, Brendan appears at the restaurant.
Shock! Disbelief! Confusion! Outrage! Miranda suddenly feels propelled into a parallel universe where everything is the opposite of what it should be; where all familiar objects, settings and loved ones are distorted, as if she had walked through a glass darkly. But what can she say? For the first time in so long Kerry is beside herself with joy and the ever-smooth, ever-charming, ever-confident Brendan, who can change personalities as easily as a chameleon changes color, is very attentive to his new "love."
Miranda tries to tell her sister that Brendan didn't dump her --- that she was the one who broke it off. Her parents plan a Sunday brunch so they can all celebrate Kerry's new love and "help Miranda get over her heartbreak." Brendan, who is so suave and believable, has told them a story that Miranda simply has no power to refute. She is very happy for Kerry. Too much time had been wasted as she watched her older sister withdraw and wither in the shadow of broken loves and dreams destroyed.
According to the Oxford American Dictionary, diabolical means "like a devil, very cruel or wicked" and "fiendishly clever or cunning or annoying." Brendan Block fits both of these descriptions, and his deceptive charm mesmerizes those he preys upon, who then cannot escape his pathological exploits.
To further peek between the covers of SECRET SMILE would be unfair to readers. Be assured nevertheless that this novel is rich in psychological suspense, and the characters are carved with attention to the finest detail. The plot may seem simple, but it is not. Nicci French is one of those rare writers who takes a subject and, not unlike a forensic pathologist, slowly dissects it, examines it and explores its essence, which gives readers a tight, exciting and bone-chilling snapshot of the evidence. In this book the author slowly peels away the layers of lies and miscommunication that leads to the haunting of one young woman. SECRET SMILE is a contemporary novel with roots in the oldest stories about obsession, and in this case Miranda is thrust into a deadly plot that ends in death and irredeemable destruction.
Readers should beware of only one thing: you will want to read this book in one sitting. So plan well and enjoy!
--- Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum
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