Author:Jenny Tomlin
Send Me No Flowers is the story of a young woman's fight for survival.
Donna Stewart's family is poor but respectable and hard working. Donna is beautiful and clever - about to go up to university. Celebrating her exam results with her friends at a club, she meets Danny Lester, ten years older, much richer, a businessman - he sweeps her off her feet. Despite warnings from friends and family, Donna enjoys Danny's wild streak. She believes this is the man she will marry and live with happy ever after. But it gradually emerges that 'Danny the knife' is a dangerous criminal - and a sadist. She is introduced to a world of drugs and prostitutes, where Danny gets his kicks by terrifying her. The longer she leaves it, the harder it will be to escape. But eventually, helped by a loyal circle of female friends, she works out a plan.
A brutally disturbing story. Truely shocking.
—— Daily MirrorHer story is horrifying and terrifyingly explicit in parts, but Tomlin's words are always believable. Donna's spiral downwards is the stuff of nightmares and a warning to anyone who thinks they can handle a cocktail of drugs and love. In parts I was almost too sickened to carry on - but I could not put it down. (5 stars)
—— News of the WorldThis sneak-up-on-you page-turner ... will chill your soul ... Haunting
—— People magazineAn impeccably paced suspense novel ... successfully exploits the classic woman-in-jeopardy (plus child) theme.
—— Publishers WeeklyUnquestionably our best thriller writer
—— Graham GreeneThe source on which we all draw
—— John le CarréWhether you are an aficionado of fin-de-siècle Europe, compelling crime fiction or strong characterisation, Darkness Rising delivers healthy doses of all three
—— Expressa thoroughly compelling piece of work
—— Mail on Sundayoutstanding
—— Sunday TimesA most enjoyable read and, as usual, Vienna sparkles with atmosphere
—— The TimesDon Winslow is the kind of cult writer who is so good you almost want to keep him to yourself
—— Ian RankinA fiction whose effect on the reader is almost as addictive as the slimming sweets on which Eugene becomes so disturbingly dependent
—— Sunday TelegraphRuth Rendell's sense of place and disdain for her characters elevates a sordid case of arson into an artful exploration of sinister self-delusion
—— Books of the Year, Evening StandardShe has made the city her own, and writes with both knowledge and compassion about its streets and buildings, its transport and its shops - and above all about its inhabitants ... As ever Rendell writes with wry and witty authority ... It's intelligent stuff, and very readable
—— SpectatorRendell is marvellous at psychological tension, and the suspicion that these ways will be sinister is what hooks the reader. Setting out her cast with conviction, she unrolls their lives at a stately, ominous pace
—— The Sunday TimesPsychologically acute and extremely disturbing, Ruth Rendell's work is outstanding
—— The TimesRendell has a Dickensian empathy, informed by a prodigious love of London life. Her account, bursting with colour and vitality, is a treat to read
—— The Independent