Nasty Habits

A Novel

De: Gillian White

Narrado por: Bruce Mann

One secret can bury an entire family forever... Desmond is a man ill equipped for today's world. He is reclusive and unsocial, traits exacerbated by his domineering mother. As a result, Desmond is at his happiest when he's absolutely alone. During a birdwatching outing along the Devon coast, Desmond wanders into a cave. Inside, he finds something that appalls and terrifies him: a skeleton dressed in a nun's wimple.

With this one twist of fate, Desmond becomes the focus of the wealthy Pilkington family - the clan who lives near the cave, with connections and devious secrets to spare. Under legal and familial pressure, the members of the Pilkington family start to crack, and their lies and deceits pile up. Who is the skeleton, and why has its existence been kept a secret for so long? The truth brings Gillian White's riveting tale to a startling conclusion.

©1991 Gillian White (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Nasty is right

Well, at first I thought it was only the narrator who was making the book so bad. He reads with almost a strict monotone. I asked myself if that was meant to be some kind of stylistic effect, since this is a psychological thriller (or intends to be). I actually listened to the entire book (not sure why). Just kept telling myself it would get better. Depends upon your taste, I suppose. This was absolutely not mine. Story begins with a man who is a rather conflicted loner in life discovering a corpse in a cave while on a trip alone. A good bit of the book is devoted to the story between him and his mother--somehow that was probably the most interesting part. The rest of the story revolves around the family who is affected by the discovery of the dead woman--and I'd say that so far as depravity goes, the author more than managed to convey the depths to which humans can be brought down as they are forced to examine their own behaviors. Might be what some like to read. Isn't what I like. I will especially avoid anything narrated or written by either of these two people. Future readers--this is simply my taste. I love psychological mysteries, but not this one. Your mileage may vary.