An intriguing tale that will keep readers guessing

Tom Rob Smith takes a considerable risk in this book: 75% of the action - as it were - takes place offstage.

Daniel, a young man living in London, has parents who have recently moved to Sweden to work on a farm. The mother, Tilde, is Swedish by birth. Out of the blue, Daniel's father calls to say Tilde is behaving very strangely. Daniel decides to fly to Sweden, but before he can get on the plane, his mother calls to say she will soon be landing at Heathrow.

Daniel takes his mother home to his flat, and is forced to listen to her long and intense story. We begin to feel the father is right: she may have actually lost her mind. Yet, there are things about her tale of conspiracies and deaths that ring true.

Like Daniel, we can't be sure, and Smith keeps us guessing about the truth until the last pages.

By telling his story at two removes (almost) - Daniel the apparently truthful narrator, and Tilde the possibly unreliable one - Smith creates an intriguing cat-and-mouse affair that insists on you turning the pages to the end.

- Mike Crowl is a Dunedin writer, musician and composer.