Beautiful Malice, by Rebecca James, Allen & Unwin, $24.99.
Rebecca James has been hailed as the “next J.K. Rowling”, not because her book has anything to do with wizards, but because it was the subject of a frenzied, worldwide bidding war that pushed advances past $1million.
Often, things don’t live up to the hype, but this novel delivers in spades. Not only has the mother of four, from rural NSW, written a terrific thriller with some great twists, it is outstanding for its masterful plot and atmosphere, with every page saturated in pure malevolence. The story revolves around a friendship between two 18-year-olds, Alice and Katherine. Alice is the popular one, Katherine the outsider. The suspense sets in when Alice, who is all love and light at first, shows her true colours and begins to weave her sinister web around innocent Katherine. And there’s nothing you can do about it.
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