Why did Martin love this book?
I love the author’s style, which goes deeply into character and motivations in an unhurried way.
The suspense in this noir builds powerfully as it takes the time to detail the remote setting of the events and interactions. Here is one thriller that definitely cannot be called a guilty pleasure, given the intense involvement to which it compels you.
1 author picked The Birthday Party as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
Buried deep in rural France, little remains of the isolated hamlet of the Three Lone Girls, save a few houses and a curiously assembled quartet: Patrice Bergogne, inheritor of his family's farm; his wife, Marion; their daughter, Ida; and their neighbour, Christine, an artist. While Patrice plans a surprise for his wife's fortieth birthday, inexplicable events start to disrupt the hamlet's quiet existence: anonymous, menacing letters, an unfamiliar car rolling up the driveway. And as night falls, strangers stalk the houses, unleashing a nightmarish chain of events.
Told in rhythmic, propulsive prose that weaves seamlessly from one consciousness to the…