The Power Of Dreams
Under My Skin by Lisa Unger is a fabulous contemporary psychological crime thriller that I just could not put down.
The story is a study of grief. “I don’t have a home. I have a place where I live, but not a home.” It is a grief so raw that it clings like a fog, from which it is impossible to emerge. “Until you let your husband go, no one else will measure up.” But what happens if you do not want to let him go?
As part of a couple, it feels like a limb has been severed. “Widowed… it defines me by the loss of my husband.” So much of life was wrapped up as a couple, that losing one’s mate gives a feeling of lostness. Life continues but it seems hard to see how you can go on. “There’s life on the other side of this for you.”
There is a crime to solve. As characters struggle to find answers, so the reader looks for clues.
The mind is a powerful force. It shuts memories out as well as reliving hidden memories in dreams. The line between the real and the imagined is blurred. Likewise the book messes with the reader’s mind as we try to discover the truth of the events.
Written in the first person, the reader ‘experiences’ the action. We recognise the air of fear, suspicion and overwhelming grief that penetrates the life of the main character.
Under My Skin was brilliantly written. It totally absorbed my life for a few hours. Mesmerising and cleverly constructed. A fabulous offering from Lisa Unger, who is a new author to me.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
JULIA WILSON