A Closed Book
About this book
An isolated house deep in the Cotswolds. A writer's den, as dusty and gloomy as the cell of a medieval monk. Two people sit opposite each other, one of them talking, the other typing. But why, in such already sombre surroundings, does one of them wear thick dark glasses? And what, above all, has caused an unearthy shadow to fall across these two interwoven destinies?
Apart from the several startling twists of its own brilliant plot,
A Closed Book springs a few extra surprises on those readers who have already seen the film version.
'A page-turner par excellence.'
Evening Standard
'Gilbert Adair's spookily gripping novel blends an Agatha Christie-like twist with a Hitchcockian plot.'
Marie Claire
'This short, intellectually resourceful thriller...sparklingly clever, adroit and entertaining.'
The Spectator
'Gilbert Adair's novel has an almost cinematic, even radio-play, sense of suspense, but plays tricks only possible on the page...The finale is deliciously apt and unsettling.
' Independent
'Very readable indeed...a darkly entertaining soufflé...
A Closed Book positively invites an informed second reading.'
Independent on Sunday
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Landing Page
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- The blind is flapping
- The die is cast
- ‘Ah, John. So you’ve been unpacking, have you?’
- ‘Which is yours?’
- ‘Who’s that?’
- On reflection, and on the whole, I’ve decided that I like him
- ‘Are you ready, John?’
- ‘Well?’
- Where is that tie?
- ‘Here you are, Paul’
- Nine days
- ‘Jazz! Jazz! Jazz!’
- ‘Good morning Paul.’
- I know now I’ve taught myself nothing
- ‘Well, make sure you dope him to the eyeballs’
- ‘I’m sweating again’
- ‘The plate’s very hot’
- ‘Whoooo’
- Am I imagining things?
- ‘That you, John?’
- ‘Morning, Paul’
- ‘Brrr. It’s chillier than I thought’
- ‘It’s a heavenly day today’
- A heavenly day?
- What on earth is that racket?
- He’s gone
- The computer didn’t lie to me
- A man may be riddled by invisible superstitions
- Paul, what is that
- Read it back to me
- Why is it I’m glad
- ‘Let me see – where – here it is’
- How could I have been so blind!
- ‘There you are’
- ‘Mr Ryder?’
- About the Author
- Copyright
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