Rating: 
Summary: A Diabolical Story of Obsession, Twisted Love and Pure Evil
Review: SECRET SMILE by Nicci French is a diabolical story of perception, obsession, twisted love and pure evil. The tale begins at the end of what is really a short acquaintanceship between a young woman and a young man. Their affair began in the traditional way: girl meets boy, girl and boy date, girl realizes she's not interested and calls the whole thing off. "I looked at Brendan and already he seemed to be receding into the distance. I was thinking how to say it, as cleanly and finally as possible. You can say, I don't think this is working anymore, as if the relationship was a machine ... or, I don't think we should continue, as if you were both on a road together. You can say, I don't want to keep on seeing you. Only of course you don't mean see, but touch, hold, feel, want. [Then] ... almost before I knew what I was about to do, I said the words. 'I don't think we should go on with this. I'm sorry Brendan. I really mean it.' "Miranda's "relationship with Brendan had been so brief that [her] best friend, Laura, had been on holiday ... and it was entirely over and in the past ... when she got back and rang me. [She] didn't [even] bother to tell her about Brendan." At the start, she has no idea what her meeting, and then subsequent rejection, of him will do to her life and the lives of everyone she loves. No one could possibly foresee the venom he will spread. Miranda is surprised when her sister, Kerry, calls out of the blue to invite her to dinner. The older woman is very excited and tells Miranda that she has some fantastic news. "[Miranda] arrived at La Table at about one minute past eight and Kerry was already there. She looked illuminated from the inside and it showed through her eyes. Almost everything about her was different." At first, in the cross-talk Miranda gets the sense that Kerry is pregnant. But that is not the news; rather, Kerry wants to announce that she has a new boyfriend. But Miranda wonders why she chose to "announce it in such a formal way." Kerry goes on to explain: "It's a bit awkward. It really shouldn't be a problem at all, if we don't let it become one. You see my new boyfriend is 'Brendan,' she says. Isn't it amazing? He's about to arrive. He said he thought it would be good if we all got together." As if on cue, Brendan appears at the restaurant. Shock! Disbelief! Confusion! Outrage! Miranda suddenly feels propelled into a parallel universe where everything is the opposite of what it should be; where all familiar objects, settings and loved ones are distorted, as if she had walked through a glass darkly. But what can she say? For the first time in so long Kerry is beside herself with joy and the ever-smooth, ever-charming, ever-confident Brendan, who can change personalities as easily as a chameleon changes color, is very attentive to his new "love." Miranda tries to tell her sister that Brendan didn't dump her --- that she was the one who broke it off. Her parents plan a Sunday brunch so they can all celebrate Kerry's new love and "help Miranda get over her heartbreak." Brendan, who is so suave and believable, has told them a story that Miranda simply has no power to refute. She is very happy for Kerry. Too much time had been wasted as she watched her older sister withdraw and wither in the shadow of broken loves and dreams destroyed. According to the Oxford American Dictionary, diabolical means "like a devil, very cruel or wicked" and "fiendishly clever or cunning or annoying." Brendan Block fits both of these descriptions, and his deceptive charm mesmerizes those he preys upon, who then cannot escape his pathological exploits. To further peek between the covers of SECRET SMILE would be unfair to readers. Be assured nevertheless that this novel is rich in psychological suspense, and the characters are carved with attention to the finest detail. The plot may seem simple, but it is not. Nicci French is one of those rare writers who takes a subject and, not unlike a forensic pathologist, slowly dissects it, examines it and explores its essence, which gives readers a tight, exciting and bone-chilling snapshot of the evidence. In this book the author slowly peels away the layers of lies and miscommunication that leads to the haunting of one young woman. SECRET SMILE is a contemporary novel with roots in the oldest stories about obsession, and in this case Miranda is thrust into a deadly plot that ends in death and irredeemable destruction. Readers should beware of only one thing: you will want to read this book in one sitting. So plan well and enjoy! --- Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum
Rating: 
Summary: Dangerous stalker or unreliable narrator?
Review: The premise is not original: Girl meets boy, girl dumps boy, boy turns out to be psychopathic stalking menace. But the British duo who write as Nicci French ("The Red Room" "Killing Me Softly") bring the dark, intimate thrill of the head-game to this timeworn scary story and from the first page, you're hooked.
Narrator Miranda Cotton, 26, the middle child, is the one with all the confidence and independence. She works as a builder-decorator, lives in a small London flat and likes her single life. The day Brendan Block lets himself into her flat and she catches him reading her diary is the day their brief relationship is over.
But the next thing she knows he's enraptured her shy, insecure sister, Kerry. He's insinuated himself into her family, told everyone, in the most sympathetic terms, that Miranda's reaction is just her broken heart talking. French winds the tension up, beat by beat. There are whispered obscenities, malevolent promises, unprovable invasions of her privacy. No one sees any of it but Miranda and as the scale of invasion escalates, her own family begins to turn aganst her. New boyfriends vanish in the face of her obsession. Even the reader begins to wonder - is Miranda an unreliable narrator?
As always French's characters come alive on the page. Even Miranda's new boyfriends have the same freshness of possibility for us as they do for her. Her pleasure in her life, her growing revulsion and helplessness, her increasing desperation, all ring true in this gripping psychological thriller. Not French's best but still head and shoulders above the rest.
Rating:
Summary: (...)
Review: THE SECRET SMILE, by Nicci French is a diabolical story of
perception, obsession, twisted love and pure evil. The tale begins at the end of what is really a short acquaintanceship between a young woman and a young man. Their affair began in the traditional way: girl meets boy; girl and boy date; girl realizes she's not interested and calls the whole thing off: "I looked at Brendan and already he seemed to be receding into the distance. I was thinking how to say it, as cleanly and finally as possible. You can say, I don't think this working anymore, as if the relationship was a machine ... or, I don't think we should continue, as if you were both on a road together. You can say, I don't want to keep on seeing you. Only of course you don't mean see, but touch, hold, feel, want. [Then] ... almost before I knew what I was about to do, I said the words. 'I don't think we should go on with this. I'm sorry Brendan. I really mean it'." Miranda's "... relationship with Brendan had been so brief that [her] best friend, Laura, had been on holiday ... and it was entirely over and in the past ... when she got back and rang me. [She] didn't [even] bother to tell her about Brendan" says, Miranda, the naïve "fly" whom, by chance is drawn into a young man's poisonous "web." At the start, she has no idea what her meeting, then subsequent rejection of him will do to her life and the lives of everyone she loves. No one could possibly foresee the venom he will spread. Miranda is surprised when her sister Kerry calls out of the blue to invite her to dinner. The older woman is very excited and tells Miranda she has some fantastic news. "[Miranda] arrived at La Table at about one minute past eight and Kerry was already there. She looked illuminated from the inside and it showed through her eyes. Almost everything about her was different." At first, in the cross-talk Miranda gets the sense that Kerry is pregnant. But, that was not the news, rather Kerry wanted to announce that [she'd] got a new boyfriend." But Miranda wondered why she chose to "announce it in such a formal way." Kerry goes on to explain, "It's a bit awkward. It really shouldn't be a problem at all, if we don't let it become one." You see my new boyfriend is 'Brendan,' she says. Isn't it amazing? He's about to arrive. He said he thought it would be good if we all got together." You know, to smooth over any discomfort about his dumping you. As if on cue Brendan appears at the restaurant. Shock! Disbelief! Confusion! Outrage! Miranda felt suddenly propelled into a parallel universe where everything is the opposite of what it should be; where all familiar objects, settings and loved ones are as distorted, as if she had walked through a glass darkly. But, what can she say? For the first time in so long Kerry is beside with herself with joy and the ever smooth, ever charming, ever confident Brendan who can change personalities as easily as a chameleon changes color is very attentive to his new "love". Miranda tries to tell her sister that Brendan didn't dump her. That she was the one who broke it off. She tries to tell her mother that, " ... everyone has the wrong idea." Her parents plan a Sunday brunch so they can all celebrate Kerry's new love and to "help Miranda get over her heartbreak." Brendan, who is so suave and believable had told them a story that Miranda simply has no power to refute. She muses: "Within families, you're stuck with the character they think you are. I often think of positions in families, the difference it makes to you." Those closest to us have certain, fixed perceptions of who they think we are. They see us as they would have us be and those preconceived notions comprise how we are treated and thus, how we act out our given roles from a script we have had no part in writing. Who would I be if our brother Troy, oh the troubled Troy, had been the oldest ... or, if I had been born first? "But we are stuck with what we'd been given." Miranda was very happy for Kerry. Too much time had been wasted as she watched her older sister withdraw and wither in the shadow of broken loves and dreams destroyed. Diabolical means: adj. 1. like a devil, very cruel or wicked.
2. fiendishly clever or cunning or annoying,
according the Oxford American Dictionary.
The Random House Word Menu defines the word as
"perverse, as though possessed by devil."
Brendan Block is all of these and his deceptive charm mesmerizes those he preys upon who then cannot escape his pathological exploits. To further peek between the covers of SECRET SMILE would be unfair to readers. Nevertheless be assured that this novel is rich in psychological suspense, the characters are carved with attention to the finest detail, the plot may seem simple but it is not. Nicci French is one of those rare writers who takes a subject, and not unlike a forensic pathologist, slowly dissects it, examines it, explores its essence, which gives readers a tight, exciting and bone chilling snapshot of the evidence. In this book the author slowly peels away the layers of lies and miscommunication that leads to the haunting of one young woman. SECRET SMILE is a contemporary novel with roots in the oldest stories about obsession and in this case Miranda is thrust into a deadly plot that ends in death and irredeemable destruction. Readers should beware of only one thing: you will want to read this book in one sitting ... so plan well and enjoy! ----Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum(...)
Rating:
Summary: a great read!!
Review: This is the first book by Nicci French that I have read. It was well worth the read.Miranda was going out with brandon for about 2 weeks when she caught him reading her dairy and she broke of the relationship.The next thing miranda knows is that her sister Kerry starts dating him and strange things start to happen to her family and friends .Brandon starts messing with Miranda's mind and she wonders if she is going nuts because no one believes anything she has told them about Brandon. This is a book that you will have a hard time putting down and you will not believe the ending . I was shocked!!
Rating: 
Summary: Not the best by this duo
Review: You can read the basis of the book in almost all the reviews so I'll cut to the chase. This isn't the best book by this team of authors. In fact, probably the worst I've read by them. Since these aren't series books, I'd skip this one unless you are a fan of the "ouch that hurts... let's do that again club". The whole premise is stupid since the main character has a family and friends that should have believed her in the 1st place. And it just keeps going and going and going and going. She is like the dumb herione in a horror movie where you are telling them not to go upstairs but they do anyways.... I expect my novels to be smarter than this.
Rating:
Summary: Not the best by this duo
Review: You can read the basis of the book in almost all the reviews so I'll cut to the chase. This isn't the best book by this team of authors. In fact, probably the worst I've read by them. Since these aren't series books, I'd skip this one unless you are a fan of the "ouch that hurts... let's do that again club". The whole premise is stupid since the main character has a family and friends that should have believed her in the 1st place. And it just keeps going and going and going and going. She is like the dumb herione in a horror movie where you are telling them not to go upstairs but they do anyways.... I expect my novels to be smarter than this.
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