Unraveling Oliver
Ratings7
Average rating3.7
15
Ratings7
Average rating3.7
“Searing, searching, finally scorching. Think Making a Murderer via Patricia Highsmith: an elegant kaleidoscope novel that refines and combines multiple perspectives until its subject is brought into indelible, tragic focus.” —A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window “Pitch-black and superbly written.” —Ruth Ware, New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in Cabin 10 “Top-notch grip lit…incredibly brilliant.” —Marian Keyes, New York Times bestselling author Oliver Ryan has the perfect life. Elegant and seductive, he wants for nothing, sharing a lovely home with his steadfast wife, Alice, who illustrates the award-winning children’s books that have brought him wealth and fame. Until one evening, after eating the dinner Alice has carefully prepared, Oliver savagely assaults her and leaves her for dead. But why? The people who know Oliver can only speculate about the reasons behind his brutal act: his empty-headed mistress Moya, vain and petulant; Veronique, the French chatelaine who tragically lost everything the summer she employed him in her vineyard; Alice’s friend Barney, who has nursed an unrequited love for her since childhood; Oliver’s college pal Michael, struggling with voiceless longings that have shamed him for years. What none of them understands is the dark secret that lies behind his immaculate façade. The revelations that come to light as the layers of Oliver’s past are peeled away are as brutal as his singular act of violence. His decades of careful deception have masked a life irrevocably marked by abandonment, envy, and shame—and as the details of that life are laid bare, Oliver discovers that outrunning his demons is harder than it looks. With its insight into the mind of a psychopath emerging from the wreckage of his own misbegotten past, Unraveling Oliver is a chilling page-turner, brilliantly crafted and unexpectedly moving, by a stunning new voice in fiction. Liz Nugent "presents a fresh look at a man hiding his violent personality in this intense character study" (Publishers Weekly, starred review). As powerful as Patricia Highsmith’s unforgettable noir classic, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Unraveling Oliver will enthrall you from its mesmerizing opening line to its equally shocking last page.
Reviews with the most likes.
The book starts off with Oliver confessing that he has hit his wife Alice so badly that she has gone into a coma and might never come out of it. After that, we get to know their story through multiple POVs and timelines – young and teenage Oliver, Alice's first boyfriend, their neighbor, Oliver's old friends, Alice's mentally challenged brother and the details of the summer of 1973.
I really had high expectations from this book and I was disappointed. We are told that Oliver is a psychopath in the beginning itself and the book is supposed to unravel the truth about him, but I did not get that. The story is well written, multiple timelines are managed quite smoothly, and overall it was a good read. It never got boring and I really enjoyed a couple of the side characters. I also especially liked the subplot in France. But the book promised so much more, so I am a little dissatisfied.
I read this right on the tails of finishing The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronsen. Though not planned, it felt like the perfect warmup read before encountering Oliver. I appreciated how the author focused this story on the slow makings of a psychopath, how nature and nurture contribute to corrode human empathy.
