"But no one means it."

Savard went a little pale. He unlocked the door. "After you."

Francie walked into the cabin and looked around for what seemed to Savard an unendurably long time.

"So?" he said. "Good or bad?"

About this Title.

Distraught by a failing marriage, Francie Cullingwood enters into a secret affair with charismatic radio psychologist Ned Demarco. But what seems like a refuge takes a decidedly dark turn. An unfaithful wife. A cheating lover. A loyal friend. A jealous husband. In this stunning thriller, four lives hang in precarious balance-as a cunning killer prepares their roles in A Perfect Crime.

More praise for A Perfect Crime.

"Francie Cullingwood . . . is believable both as a sophisticated art expert and as an unhappily married woman caught up in the thrill of an affair. Her callow lover, his emotionally delicate wife, and their young daughter are also real enough to be your neighbors. The tricky work, though, has gone into the bad guys-Francie's egomaniacal husband, Roger, and the ex-con named Whitey he recruits to do his killing. Despite the madness of their actions, they remain human-scale monsters."

-The New York Times Book Review.

"[A Perfect Crime] confirms Peter Abrahams's talent-as displayed in The Fan-for turning a single character's obsession and revenge into a peg onto which to hang a plot. It contains tight, seamless storytelling that begs to be turned into a screenplay."

-Chicago Tribune.

"Abrahams has crafted a thoroughly absorbing novel of the decline and fall of a modern marriage-in which murder replaces divorce. The characters ring true, the suspense keeps the pages turning, and the ending is a shocker. A Perfect Crime is a perfect thriller."

-LISA SCOTTOLINE.

Edgar Awardwinning author of Rough Justice and Legal Tender.

"The nonvillains, whose flaws lie within the ordinary human range, are engaging and fully rounded, especially the women. . . . Only when A Perfect Crime is over do we see how Abrahams, a plotter even more skilled than [the villain], has manipulated us. We don't mind too much, because in this case the conventions of the genre have packaged not only the expected thrills but that always unexpected bonus: good writing."

-Los Angeles Times.

"This literary thriller has a great deal going for it. The characters are as acutely realized as if painted by a photo-realist. . . . The plotting, and the plot twists, are complex and compelling. The dialogue is sharp and almost flawless, exposing facets of character without need for narrative that might slow the pace. And it's satisfying: there's sex and violence, but there's also a subtle sense of the mathematical certainty to the denouement."

-Booklist (boxed and starred review).

"A Perfect Crime is fast-paced, tense, even witty as it careens to its bloody conclusion. . . . Abrahams weaves a tight web of deception and intrigue."

-Library Journal.

"An extraordinary high-water mark in the art of suspense . . . Abrahams's method is like close-up magic, tricks done at a table right in front of your eyes. . . . He creates suspense that is nothing less than amazing . . . . Abrahams can do it all. He writes dialogue that sounds like real people talking. He can characterize someone by what he eats for breakfast. He can hide the basis of future plot twists in plain sight. He even creates a shower scene-unbearably frightening, excruciatingly long, and the blackest of black comedy-that will make you forget the one in Psycho. He can freeze your blood with a word or two. . . . A wickedly wonderful entertainment."

-barnesandnoble. com.

"Absorbing . . . The tension rises as Abrahams cuts between the plot participants. . . . Abrahams will keep readers very much engaged."

-Publishers Weekly.

By Peter Abrahams:.

THE FURY OF RACHEL MONETTE.

TONGUES OF FIRE.

RED MESSAGE.

HARD RAIN.

PRESSURE DROP.

REVOLUTION #9.

THE FAN.

LIGHTS OUT.

A PERFECT CRIME*

*Published by Ballantine Books.

end.