The Comfort Of Strangers By Ian McEwan

The Comfort Of Strangers is set in an un-named city (un-named but it bears more than a passing resemblence to Venice!), Colin and Mary, a 30-something couple are there on holiday - but they are bored. Very bored.

Their relationship is stale and they wander aimlessly through life and through the streets of the city in search of some kind of relief from the boredom of their own selves.

One night, on a seemingly fruitless quest to find a restaurant that meets their exacting standards, they encounter Robert, a local man who is clearly sinister yet undoubtedly charismatic...he tells them the story of his life and somehow meeting this dangerous but extraordinary man invigorates Colin and Mary and they once again experience the unfamiliar joy of living...but this comes at a price...

Like hungry spiders, Robert and his wife Caroline draw them deeper and deeper into the web of their complex and disturbing lives until there is no going back...when Mary sees the danger it is far, far too late for escape...

Dark, menacing and ultimately extremely disturbing, McEwan unfolds this tale slowly and relishes every moment of the inexorable journey towards tragedy...

The Comfort Of Strangers is a horror novel. Not in the gory, blood splattered, hack and slash meaning of the term - but horrific nonetheless in a subtle, langorous, almost elegant fashion!

The Comfort Of Strangers is a superb follow-up to McEwan's first novel The Cement Garden. Very creepy and the ending, (although you can see it coming) is nevertheless, stark, shocking and disturbing...the fact that McEwan wrote the climax in an understated and clinically detached way, makes it even more so.

Like The Cement Garden, The Comfort Of Strangers is perfect for those who like psychological creepiness and I highly recommend it - one of my favourite Ian McEwan novels!

"The Comfort Of Strangers" by Ian McEwan on Amazon - available in hardback, paperback, audio and Kindle format