'Brilliant' SUNDAY TIMES'Compelling and unnerving' SPECTATORThis first collection of stories by Lawrence Osborne perfectly showcases his talent for tension, atmosphere - and characters out of their depth--------------------------------------------------------------------A deaf girl hired as a maid by a wealthy New York couple turns the tables on her obliviously abusive employers and answers blackmail with blackmail. A psychiatrist treating a girl in rural England becomes ensnared in a love affair that threatens to destroy her career. A naïve young linguist sent to the forests of Irian Jaya is manipulated into betraying her mission by a ruthless and disturbed pastor.

Lawrence Osborne’s stories explore characters lost in the shadowed borders between the mundane, the fantastical and the violence of the natural world. --------------------------------------------------------------------‘This is stylish, subversive fiction from a writer at the top of his game’ New Statesman, Books of the Year‘If you appreciate stories with stings in the tail, you will enjoy this fiendishly cunning new collection’ Mail on Sunday