DEATH FROM THE WOODS

A premise like no other animates this increasingly creepy tale (voted France's Best Thriller of 1997) by a highly praised

French master of the genre. Thirtyish Parisian Elise Andrioli, a cinema owner, is left quadriplegic, mute, and blind from injuries suffered while vacationing in Ireland, in the terrorist bombing incident that also killed her fianc‚. Left briefly alone in her wheelchair in a suburban park, Elise (who can still hear) becomes the helpless confidante of Virginie, a troubled child who whispers to Elise fragmented information about a still-at-large serial killer of young boys, whom the suspiciously knowledgeable Virginie calls “Death from the Woods.” Elise’s panicked efforts to communicate what she knows (or believes she knows) are expertly juxtaposed against taut, suggestive characterizations of acquaintances who variously intrude on, and gradually expand, Elise’s “world”—as Death keeps on killing, and draws nearer.

A beautifully constructed tale that grows scarier by the page.