Some of the neighbors are getting a little irritated, to say the least, about the new hospital that is being built in their neighborhood. Brian is writing angry, almost threatening emails to Tanya, the Neighborhood Disturbance Coordinator, complaining about the disturbance caused by the construction. Luckily, his nice neighbor, Claire and her son, Joey still brighten his day.
Single mother Claire is looking for a way to break off her dependence on a cheating ex-husband by going to back to school. Though she has to rely on Brian’s kindness for childcare, she keeps her distance from him because he is a little too attracted to her. Miriam watches Brian and Claire’s interactions from across the street with disapproval. But, Miriam is more curious about why her husband, Gerard is spending so much time on the Internet.
Miriam is getting increasingly anxious that he is going mad, just like her brother did. Miriam also doesn’t much like the fact that Tanya keeps talking to her husband. As the noise and activity from the construction builds up, so do the neighbors’ suspicions and gossiping ways, until emotions are wound so tight that something or someone has to snap.
Author Cathryn Grant has written a psychologically titillating mystery that conveys an eerie reality under the superficial placidity of suburban living. Grant creates a growing tension as she slowly peels off the layers of each character, to reveal their psychological states and their entanglements with one another that become more entwined as the plot reveals itself.
The pace of the story works well to create a tense and ominous tone. Tight images reveal that behind the smiles, the manicured lawns and the semblance of social propriety lie hints of something sinister and violent: “But the sharp burst of iron against a hard surface . . . could make a man consider taking that hammer to someone’s skull.” And “Michelle Reynes slammed the knife blade through the carrot.” These forceful images are well contrasted to the sensual descriptions that heighten the tension in this story: “She was full of life, her breasts spilling out the low neck of her t-shirt, her belly already rounded, her face soft and content.”
There are some inconsistencies in the characters’ actions and words, for example, Joey and Claire’s behavior towards Brian is confusing as they are sometimes friends and appear to like him, yet at other times appear to not really know him and be very suspect of him. Some repetitive points or overstated issues, confusing wording (“And yet, why did she have rules about not sending the wrong message if she wasn’t on some level, concerned that Brian had gotten the wrong message?”) and awkward metaphors are a little distracting; but overall the set up of the character and story is well established and the suspense deftly maintained.
THE SUBURBAN ABYSS is a disquieting mystery about a darker side of suburban living.
Reviewed by Maya Fleischmann for IndieReader
Also by the same author:
THE DEMISE OF THE SOCCER MOMS
BURIED BY DEBT