Author: Elizabeth Haynes
Publisher: Text Publishing
Copyright Year: 2012
ISBN: 9781921921278
No of Pages: 520
Review By: Gayle Sutherland
Book Synopsis:
Genevieve has decided to leave her stressful life in London – sales executive by day, pole dancer by night – to start a new life restoring a houseboat in Kent. Her peace is shattered when, on the night of her boat-warming party, a body washes up beside the vessel and she recognises it as a friend from her old life. Genevieve has to find a way to come to terms with her past and escape those who want to drag her back to it.
This reviewer found Revenge of the Tide a most enjoyable read. It is a stand-alone thriller – the author’s second – and its various aspects are nicely balanced. The story is told in the first person, the writing style is clear and engaging and the characters feel natural.
Life on board a houseboat is a refreshingly different background for a thriller and one that is able to make that sudden change from free and easy to sinister and vulnerable. Scenes from Genevieve’s night job in a London ‘gentleman’s club’ enable readers to indulge their inner pole dancer. Indeed they are so convincing that, although I read that the author works as a police intelligence analyst and has a family, I couldn’t help wondering if she also manages to fit in part-time work dancing in London nightclubs. The action is continuous, evolving from the characters and their various life styles, and the plot keeps developing up to the end. It is also not until then that Genevieve chooses between her lovers. And isn’t that something we can all fantasise about?
Genevieve is a thoroughly modern heroine who makes her own decisions, does her own thing, and stands ready to accept the consequences. If she sometimes seems foolhardy we nevertheless relate to her guts and her energy. This novel will have a certain escapist value for those of us who are desk-bound or housebound and, when the chips are down, isn’t that what a good thriller is for?