Woman on lonely road meets dangerous stranger. A simple plot, but well planned. Two other characters appear at intervals and nobody can be sure what others know. Everybody is isolated and unsure who to trust, having to rely on their wits, in a way that translates from backwoods US to outback Australia to remote Scotland or here, northern Sweden.
A good build up loses momentum in the mid-section then ramps it up to eleven for the final twenty minutes. There are some plot holes and a few illogicalities, but overall this is a proper grown-up offering - real people, weaknesses and vulnerabilities included, with minimal gore or shocks, just tension you can squeeze between your fingers.
A sub-plot around the protagonists brother and her reasons to move north are both underdeveloped and unnecessary, but end is a clever bit of thinking and ties up what earlier felt out of place. Worth a look.
A good build up loses momentum in the mid-section then ramps it up to eleven for the final twenty minutes. There are some plot holes and a few illogicalities, but overall this is a proper grown-up offering - real people, weaknesses and vulnerabilities included, with minimal gore or shocks, just tension you can squeeze between your fingers.
A sub-plot around the protagonists brother and her reasons to move north are both underdeveloped and unnecessary, but end is a clever bit of thinking and ties up what earlier felt out of place. Worth a look.