But if I was so enthralled with this tale, why four stars and not five? Ahh, well... there's always something. First of all, though a good one- not his best.
Parts of it were a little trite. I think it takes a certain kind of man to be able to write about the sexual prowess of a woman without it coming out trite and contrived. Typically, when a male takes on the job of writing about a female's sexuality the woman comes off sounding like something straight out of a Penthouse forum. I'm sure there are women in the world that warrant that lasciviousness but for the most part I don't think the vast majority of special education teachers with two children at home are constantly thinking of being ravished in the woods. I could be wrong. I'm neither a special education teacher or a mother of two so who knows but I'm willing to strongly suggest that Iles heroine is more fiction than fact. Maybe more fantasy than fact...
The other point of contention, and this one indicates more the talent of the author than a misstep, some of the things the characters did were so frustrating! I periodically shouted out- 'Of course she did you moron!', or 'Go! What are you thinking? Idiot!', and so on. Whether that should go on the list of attributes or negatives- I'm not sure.
One of the things I found very interesting about this one is that I couldn't decide how I felt about the adultery. Sometimes I was strongly against what those characters did but sometimes I could see it. When there was talk of guilt sometimes I thought - 'Yeah, you should feel guilty you adulterous loser' and sometimes I thought less self deprecation was warranted. It's a strange dichotomy he creates; one that deserves some thought.
You will find an official plot line description at:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/482639.Third_Degree
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