Almost the Truth: A Novel of Suspense

Yorke (Criminal Damage) sure-handedly demonstrates her command of suspense writing in this thought-provoking tale-with-a-twist of a crime and its aftermath. Janet Jarvis was at a night school class when two thieves broke into her home in the English village of Bicklebury. They frightened and tied up her husband, Derek, and one raped her college-age daughter, Hannah. Hannah, who alone fought back, later says, ``The thing that really bugs me is Dad.... He didn't try to help me.'' The men are caught and imprisoned, but the impact of their actions lives on. Hannah, struggling with depression and an inability to form intimate relationships, moves to Scotland to work on a nature reserve. The Jarvis marriage crumbles, and Janet sets out to work in an economy that does not welcome middle-aged ex-housewives. Meanwhile Derek, the unhappy object of Hannah's contempt and rejection, crafts a plan for revenge that will restore his bruised manhood--as soon as Hannah's rapist finishes his too-brief prison sentence. Without sacrificing entertainment to message, this absorbing, utterly unsentimental narrative reminds us that behind crime-related headlines live real people whose futures are marked by the crimes' effects. (Mar.)