Savage Lane

LoveReading Says

A Maxim Jakubowski selected title.

Once lauded as the prominent exponent of white collar noir, US author Starr now turns his attention with searing effect to domestic unease and attendant thrills. Recently divorced Karen Daily has moved to Westchester, a quiet New York City suburb with her two children and has begun to rebuild her life and teaches at a local school.

Her neighbour Mark's marriage, however, is deteriorating and he becomes obsessed with her and his expansive fantasy life now one-sidedly includes her. But Karen soon discovers Mark is not the only one who is taking an undesired interest in her. Stripping away the genteel facade of suburbia until the pace becomes truly frenetic, sordid and dark, this ingenious thriller manipulates the heartstrings like a deranged keyboard.

The secret life of middle-class suburbia has never been this disturbing. ~ Maxim Jakubowski

Reviewed by Maxim Jakubowski
Maxim Jakubowski is a London-based novelist and editor.
More reviews by Maxim Jakubowski

About Savage Lane

EVERY TOWN HAS ITS SECRETSIn Savage Lane, Jason Starr has crafted a searing tale of suspense that proves the adage: Love thy neighbor, but don't pull down your hedge. Karen Daily, recently divorced, lives with her two kids in a quaint suburb of New York City. She's teaching at a nearby elementary school, starting to date again, and for the first time in years has found joy in her life. Mark Berman, Karen's friend and neighbor, wants out of his unhappy marriage, and so does his wife, Deb, but they have stayed together for the sake of their children.Unbeknownst to Karen, while Mark's marriage has deteriorated his obsession with her has grown. And as Mark's rich fantasy life takes on a more sinister edge, rumors begin to spread about Karen and a bigger secret is uncovered. And soon Karen finds that Mark is not the only one who has taken an undesired interest in her?Jason Starr is one of our most accomplished writers of the darkness that lies within the human heart, and Savage Lane is his most riveting and intimate novel yet?a dark, domestic thriller and an honest, searing satire of a declining marriage, suburban life, and obsessive love.

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