Man and Wife - Softcover

Klavan, Andrew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0751532525 ISBN 13: 9780751532524

Publisher: TimeWarner, 2002

Synopsis

Cal Bradley runs a highly-respected psychiatric clinic in New England. He was brought up in the town and has followed his father's footsteps in being a philanthropic citizen. He and his wife, Marie, are as much in love as they were when they first married and share a contented life with their three children. He is living the American dream. Then he agrees to give free treatment to a badly disturbed young man, Peter Blue, who he believes to be of no threat to anyone but himself. Peter disappears one night but Cal finds him in the mountains above the clinic and doesn't have to institute a search for him. A few hours later the body of a stranger is discovered close to where he found Peter and he is unable to prevent him being taken into custody. He is sure Peter is not a killer and he knows confinement will push the young man into taking his life. As he sets out to prove his innocence and get him released, he discovers the murdered man is not such a stranger, but to expose the identity of the real killer will destroy him.

About this title

Review:

A wife who's too good to be true usually isn't, and the cliché holds true in Andrew Klavan's engrossing little thriller. Psychiatrist Cal Bradley is married to Marie, a devout, adoring, sensuous helpmate, and he's happier than he ever thought he'd be. In fact, he's surprisingly content to ignore the signs that something in her past is still troubling her deeply, until he sees his wife in the arms of a stranger. Then young Peter Blue, accused of battering his girlfriend and setting a church on fire, comes under Cal's care. When Peter discloses his relationship with the stranger Cal saw in the woods with his wife, Marie's past suddenly explodes into the present, threatening to turn Cal's world upside down. There's not a lot of subtlety here. The conclusion is practically handed to the reader on the first page, with its heavy foreshadowing. But the novel works anyway because of Klavan's deft characterization of Peter, a complex, spiritual adolescent who forces Cal to confront his own conscience and his conflict between love and duty. --Jane Adams

From the Inside Flap:

"Andrew Klavan may be one of the beat authors of psychological suspense writing today." The Rocky Mountain News

"A tour de force... Klavan unleashes mostly psychological suspense and he does it brilliantly." The Clevland Plain Dealer

"Klavan smoothly moves the reader through unexpected twists, all along building suspense and never tipping his hand" The Denver Post

Cal Bradley's marriage is the stuff of romance. For fifteen year,, he has shared his life with Marie, a woman he passionately adores. In an idyllic corner of New England that has been home to his family for generations, Cal has become one of the most respected men in town: a father, churchgoer and a talented psychiatrist who runs a family clinic. Life is good.

Then one night, a nineteen-year-old boy named Peter Blue sets a local church on fire and is sent to Cal for treatment For the patient, it's a last chance at redemption. For Cal, it's a journey into fear, deception, and murder.

Because somehow Peter Blue's inner life is connected to Cal', reality...and to his wife's hidden past. And before Cal can hunt down the truth he is going to have to choose between everything he believes is right, and everything he loves.

About this edition

• Publisher: TimeWarner
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0751532525
• ISBN 13: 9780751532524
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352