AN OFFENSE AGAINST THE PERSONS

Offenses against the Persons Act of 1861--or kidnapping--occasions this second suspense story well above the genre in its distinctiveness and believability. Take Jacky, a scruffy, scrappy young woman--as ordinary as fish and chips but shrewd and sympathetic--who has chosen to be an unwed mother and loves her little girl even if she can't provide for her. Take Todd, an almost neuter young man who persuades her to leave her dingy one room and take up with him in a primitive cottage in Kent; and David, her former social worker, who catalyzes the Offense. Reverberations of The Collector, accomplished and unsettling.