“ The man who had murdered Hannah’s husband was due to arrive at midday” Is a pretty good line to start a novel. And, what a concept – a world that sounds very much like ours nevertheless boasts a justice system where victims of crime or their relatives host the person who committed the crime in their own home for the duration of their sentence...in a cage .. in this case in Hannah’s kitchen. This was decided to be the perfect solution to combat an overcrowded prison system and naturally turned out to be cheaper. It was also a big hit with the electorate who thought that it was a brilliant idea for people to have the criminal who committed the crime at their mercy. Hypothetically at least, it proved less attractive in reality. Witness the example of the woman who could not bear to live in the same house as her rapist so pitched a tent on her front lawn.
It soon becomes clear, or rather less than clear, who is being punished here as the host seems to be as much constrained by the rules that they must follow as the prisoners. Then it starts to fall apart. Jen, Hannah’s prisoner has maintained his innocence in spite of apparently compelling evidence against him. Hannah’s murdered policeman husband John, has left some suspiciously large credit card bills. From then on to become somewhat of a traditional thriller with the original concept rather immaterial.
Is Jem innocent? Was John corrupt? Will Hannah fall for Jem? ( well what do you think!!) Is he trustworthy? Well I’m not giving you more than that, you need to read the book. It does fairly rattle along and I did enjoy it. What I enjoyed best was the exploration of the ramifications of this restorative justice. The thriller was so-so and the ending not the surprise it might have been
It soon becomes clear, or rather less than clear, who is being punished here as the host seems to be as much constrained by the rules that they must follow as the prisoners. Then it starts to fall apart. Jen, Hannah’s prisoner has maintained his innocence in spite of apparently compelling evidence against him. Hannah’s murdered policeman husband John, has left some suspiciously large credit card bills. From then on to become somewhat of a traditional thriller with the original concept rather immaterial.
Is Jem innocent? Was John corrupt? Will Hannah fall for Jem? ( well what do you think!!) Is he trustworthy? Well I’m not giving you more than that, you need to read the book. It does fairly rattle along and I did enjoy it. What I enjoyed best was the exploration of the ramifications of this restorative justice. The thriller was so-so and the ending not the surprise it might have been