Nameless Acts of Cruelty

At the start of this busy psychological thriller from Cameron (Only Truth), architect Jeremy Horton is flying home to London with his lawyer wife and their two children when he sees from the plane window a tiny figure running through a field. The sight unnerves him. Soon, disturbing thoughts surface about his Uncle Ian’s house in a village where Jeremy and his younger sister, Emily, spent their summer holidays, along with repressed memories of Emily’s death there when Jeremy was 11. A short time later, Jeremy’s mother, a bundle of suppressed rage, dies. To his surprise, she has left him the house that once belonged to Uncle Ian. Jeremy and his family travel to the village to clear the place out before selling it. His anxiety escalates when he’s met with open hostility from the locals. What do they know about that long ago summer? How can he find out what happened to Emily? And does he really want to know? The plot simmers for a long time before finally boiling over with dramatic revelations. Others have done a better job with the theme of overcoming childhood trauma. Agent: Jane Gregory, David Higham Assoc. (U.K.). (Aug.)