The Poison Tree

By Erin Kelly

Book Overview

From an incredible new voice in psychological suspense, a novel about the secrets that remain after a final bohemian summer of excess turns deadly. This taut psychological thriller begins when Karen and her nine-year- old daughter, Alice, pick up Rex from a ten-year stint in prison for murder. Flash back to the sultry summer in 1990s London when Karen, a straight-A student on the verge of college graduation, first meets the exotic, flamboyant Biba and joins her louche life in a crumbling mansion in Highgate. She begins a relationship with Biba's enigmatic and protective older brother, Rex, and falls into a blissful rhythm of sex, alcohol, and endless summer nights. Na?vely, Karen assumes her newfound happiness will last forever. But Biba and Rex have a complicated family history-one of abandonment, suicide, and crippling guilt-and Karen's summer of freedom is about to end in blood. When old ghosts come back to destroy the life it has taken Karen a decade to build, she has everything to lose. She will do whatever it takes to protect her family and keep her secret. Alternating between the fragile present and the lingering past with a shocker of an ending, The Poison Tree is a brilliant suspense debut that will appeal to readers of Kate Atkinson, Donna Tartt, and Tana French.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670022403
• ISBN13: 9780670022403
• Release Date: January 2011
• Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Pointless

This wasn't worth the read & the 2 part TV series on Acorn TV was just as bad. Flashbacks aren't my thing unless they are written better. Spoiled rich kids (Rex & Biba) living off their estranged father & straight laced poor Karen spend too much time acting like teenagers with partying & drugs. A murder happens & a prison sentence ensues & go forward 12 yrs as Rex is getting out of prison, someone is missing & threats happen. Twist at the end that was ok. Struggled finishing