Confessions

This gripping thriller is replete with sadistic couplings and killings. Silber opens with a flashback to the funeral of despised Lily Vaughn, murdered when she was mysteriously invited to spend a skiing weekend with four seniors, an elite clique at New England's classy Cabot College. Now, 20 years later, the four women, who are still intimates and who live in and around New York City, find themselves subjected to revenge for the old crime. After one of them is raped, the others witness mutilations and weird sacrificial killings. Late in being alerted to these events, the police conduct an inept investigation; rather than grill a prime suspect, they keep her fully informed. We learn why, but not how, the killer enters a sealed apartment, is at all times aware of her victims' whereabouts, and has, instead of a modus operandi, a wide variety of violent techniques. Yet despite these weaknesses, Silber magnetizes readers to her bitter message that love makes anyone vulnerable, and that we all bear responsibility for the actions we condone. BOMC selection. (Feb.)