Synopses & Reviews
In this gripping psychological thriller, Joyce Carol Oates, New York Times best-selling author and one of the most versatile and original voices in contemporary American fiction, delivers a startling, complex tale of a serial killer and the people that his ghastly crimes touchand transform. People like Matt McBride. Matt was barely out of junior high when the mutilated body of the first victima popular, pretty teenagerwas uncovered in the desolate New Jersey Pine Barrens. Although he had hardly known the girl, Matt has long felt guilty at not having been able somehow to prevent the atrocity. Now another attractive young woman has disappeared, and Matt knew this victim, too. Just possibly he knew her more intimately than he is prepared to admit. By degrees Matt becomes obsessed with a guilt he can neither comprehend nor assuage. His seemingly happy marriage begins to deteriorate, while his increasingly erratic behavior heightens police suspicions. It also draws official attention away from an artista man of limited talent but of fierce, demented visionwho signs his work Name Unknown. Under the spell of the missing woman, Matt follows a path that leads him out of the maze of tortured memory to a confrontation with not only the baleful Name Unknown but also his own long-unacknowledged self. The outcome is shattering. With "murder as an art and the serial killer as an artist," National Book Awardwinner Joyce Carol Oates shows "how a murderer's savage creations ... transform a man's life."Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times "Oates fans may judge [The Barrens] the best Smith novel yet."Boston Herald
Review
"Although her plotting is feverish and over the top, Oates gives vivid expression here to the themes that seem to drive all of her work sexual guilt, the nature of perception, the false self. She brings high emotion to her narrative, and the result is compelling reading." Joanne Wilkinson, Booklist
Review
"It's a testament to Oates's skill that the suspense is instant and intense....Yet the motivation for his obsessive quest for the killer guilt at being unable to prevent two murders never quite convinces." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Not the best or worst of the overheated, essentially routine thrillers signed by the author's own double, but a puzzling waste of Oates's talent." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"The story is taut, though the author misses several opportunities to capitalize on the circumstances she sets up. After over 200 pages of buildup, the resolution of the multiple murders comes so swiftly that it disappoints and leaves many questions unanswered. But the story seems to be more about missed opportunities, and the ending fits the flawed characters that Oates is so expert at creating." Library Journal
Synopsis
Matt McBride remembers the first victim of the serial killer he was a boy when the body of the girl was found in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Now another woman has disappeared. Matt sets out on a path that leads him to a confrontation with both the killer and his own self.
Synopsis
One of the most powerful and original voices in contemporary American literature turns her remarkable skills in this new novel to the complex and compelling story of a serial killer and the people his crimes touch, and transform.
Matt McBride, a seemingly happily married man, remembers his first victim. He was a boy when the mutilated body of the pretty, popular, outgoing teenager was found in the desolate New Jersey Pine Barrens. Matt's memory of the atrocity haunts him still; he has long felt guilty at not having been able to prevent it, although he'd hardly known the girl. Now another attractive young woman has disappeared. Matt knew this victim, too and just possibly he knew her more intimately than he can acknowledge.