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carlyque's review against another edition
3.0
Always love Vine, and who couldn't fall in love with her tomboy main character, but this needed some pruning.
spygrl1's review against another edition
3.0
Clodagh Brown is claustrophobic, but loves heights. As a teen she takes to climbing electrical pylons, an act of youthful bravado that leads to the death of her boyfriend, Daniel. Disgraced and despondent, Clodagh is packed off to London, to live in a basement flat provided by an elderly second cousin and to take courses at a polytechnic. She fritters her time away until she meets Michael Silverman (called Silver by even his parents). Silver has to himself the top-floor flat in his parents' home--well, he would have it to himself if he didn't share it with a motley crew consisting of thuggish cat burglar Jonny, agoraphobic au pair Liv, and engimatic Wim, who loves nothing so much as mountaineering London's rooftops, a hobby the others join in for fun (and in Jonny's case, profit).
Clodagh becomes Silver's girlfriend and an enthusiastic participant in the rooftop adventures. But there are hints of tragedy to come.
Jonny has claimed Liv as his girl--he sees her as his property. Liv, however, adores Wim, who is willing to take her to bed but remains detached. Liv can't bring herself to leave Silver's apartment--she is convinced she will be hunted down by the couple whose children she once miserably looked after. She left their employ abruptly, having gotten into an accident with the children in the car and while over the legal blood alcohol limit. She simply left the car and ran away, but she had with her nearly 2000 pounds that she had amassed--the forgotten change when the parents sent her pick up some household item. Liv is obsessed with the money--convinced that the couple will hunt her down because of it, unwilling to spend it, unable to let it go. This stew of circumstances leads to Jonny mugging Liv's father in an effort to find the money and eventually taking an ax to Wim's leg out of jealousy and frustration. The attack means Wim will never be able to climb the rooftops again, a fate that for him is far worse than death.
Meanwhile the papers are daily reporting on the sensational case of a wealthy couple who have disappeared with their foster son because their bid to adopt him was rejected (on the grounds that the boy is of mixed race and they are both white). Wim spots the fugitives during his rooftop travels, and Silver and Clodagh decide they must help Andrew and Alison and the boy, Jason. They begin by doing shopping and other errands for the couple, and then they hatch a plan to help them all escape to Australia with fake passports. Of course, Silver must go to Jonny for help with the fraudulent documents, which leads to the plan's undoing. When he's picked up for the attack on Wim, Jonny barters what he knows for leniency, and the policy arrive to take Andrew and Alison into custody. Clodagh and Silver attempt to lead the three others across the rooftops to escape, but Alison turns out to be afraid of heights. And it also seems that she has given up hope of getting away with Jason; she falls to her death and Silver narrowly escapes following her.
Clodagh has told Silver the how Daniel fell from the pylon, how she tried to hold on but finally had to let him fall. Silver reciprocates by telling Clodagh his big story--when he was 3-years-old, he disappeared for three days while on holiday with his family. He was returned by a woman who claimed she had found him miles away at a beach cove. But certain items he sees at Alison and Andrew's hideout jog his memory, and certain things Alison says add pieces to the puzzle, until finally it is revealed that Alison snatched Michael. She was in her early twenties and was desperate for a child of her own. Her mother returned Michael, inventing a story of finding him in order to protect her daughter. [This reminded me of Tree of Hands, another Rendell story in which a woman who loses a child finds herself with a kidnapped replacement].
Clodagh becomes Silver's girlfriend and an enthusiastic participant in the rooftop adventures. But there are hints of tragedy to come.
Jonny has claimed Liv as his girl--he sees her as his property. Liv, however, adores Wim, who is willing to take her to bed but remains detached. Liv can't bring herself to leave Silver's apartment--she is convinced she will be hunted down by the couple whose children she once miserably looked after. She left their employ abruptly, having gotten into an accident with the children in the car and while over the legal blood alcohol limit. She simply left the car and ran away, but she had with her nearly 2000 pounds that she had amassed--the forgotten change when the parents sent her pick up some household item. Liv is obsessed with the money--convinced that the couple will hunt her down because of it, unwilling to spend it, unable to let it go. This stew of circumstances leads to Jonny mugging Liv's father in an effort to find the money and eventually taking an ax to Wim's leg out of jealousy and frustration. The attack means Wim will never be able to climb the rooftops again, a fate that for him is far worse than death.
Meanwhile the papers are daily reporting on the sensational case of a wealthy couple who have disappeared with their foster son because their bid to adopt him was rejected (on the grounds that the boy is of mixed race and they are both white). Wim spots the fugitives during his rooftop travels, and Silver and Clodagh decide they must help Andrew and Alison and the boy, Jason. They begin by doing shopping and other errands for the couple, and then they hatch a plan to help them all escape to Australia with fake passports. Of course, Silver must go to Jonny for help with the fraudulent documents, which leads to the plan's undoing. When he's picked up for the attack on Wim, Jonny barters what he knows for leniency, and the policy arrive to take Andrew and Alison into custody. Clodagh and Silver attempt to lead the three others across the rooftops to escape, but Alison turns out to be afraid of heights. And it also seems that she has given up hope of getting away with Jason; she falls to her death and Silver narrowly escapes following her.
Clodagh has told Silver the how Daniel fell from the pylon, how she tried to hold on but finally had to let him fall. Silver reciprocates by telling Clodagh his big story--when he was 3-years-old, he disappeared for three days while on holiday with his family. He was returned by a woman who claimed she had found him miles away at a beach cove. But certain items he sees at Alison and Andrew's hideout jog his memory, and certain things Alison says add pieces to the puzzle, until finally it is revealed that Alison snatched Michael. She was in her early twenties and was desperate for a child of her own. Her mother returned Michael, inventing a story of finding him in order to protect her daughter. [This reminded me of Tree of Hands, another Rendell story in which a woman who loses a child finds herself with a kidnapped replacement].
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