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Post by Calenture on Apr 5, 2008 21:48:05 GMT
First published as a NEL Original, 1983 Valerie conjures a demon, but when she tries to banish it, it refuses to obey the rules and instead attempts to possess her. Eventually she arrives at an arrangement with the demanding spirit: she will let her house to someone else, someone with less willpower, whose body will provide a more accomodating home for the disincarnate spirit. Enter Sarah, still not over the breakup of a relationship, obsessed with her former boyfriend but needing space to get away from him and start over. The house is just right, big and isolated and cheap...and with a sitting tenant looking for a home of its own... Lisa Tuttle's first novel is a decent thriller, which doesn't quite live up to its own bloody opening but nonetheless maintains interest and suspense throughout. Some critics have found the book disappointing following the style and originality of her short stories; but she can tell a story and sustain it, which in the final analysis is what counts. She is peculiarly ruthless in exposing and dissecting the emotions of her female characters, while male characters rarely rise above the stereotypical. |
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