Three - D.A. MIshani translated by Jessica Cohen

Elegant isn’t the word usually associated with a psychological thriller. But if pushed I’m not sure that I would place this book firmly in that one genre. It’s elegant and compelling. It’s darkness is subtle, it’s nuanced to the extent that you almost don’t suspect anything untoward in the early stages of the book. You think you’re reading some scene setting, some character development. No evidence of the ubiquitous prologue that prefaces so many books of this type. There was no flawed narrator but a rich, character driven, narrative that demand the reader explore the emotion and minds of the three women of the title as well as the perp. Unusual, too, was the book blurb which I initially thought was giving too much away. The plot is benign, repetitive, almost, as the M.O. of our villain taunts the reader into relaxing as the story slowly unfolds. 

The relationship between story and reader becomes almost like a clandestine assignation. The reader is privy to what is happening but powerless, impotent, to stop these women from falling into the trap. You occasionally look over your shoulder because you don’t want Gil to know you’re on to him! But there’s nothing you can do as the story marches relentlessly on. And you, the reader, cannot put this book down.

It’s intelligent writing. And it’s intelligent plotting. I think because the book is slow and gradual it becomes all the more chilling. It’s almost prosaic, mundane even in terms of action and events but it’s the underlying, mental gymnastics that invade your consciousness and leave you feeling so twitchy and unnerved. So much seems so every day normal that the impact of what happens seems all the more devastating.

Sometimes with psychological thrillers I find it very hard to engage with the characters in any positive way. Very often they are difficult to like. That isn’t the case here, with the three women certainly. It is easy for the the reader to not only engage but relate in some way to where they’re at. And that pulls a punch too because you can end up thinking, there but for the grace of God……… 

I must admit I was left wondering what Gil’s ultimate issues were and why he behaved the way he did. The three women’s motivations were all very clear. His never seemed to be. Other than a power/ control obsession. And of course there is much that isn’t contained within the book. It made you wonder what had gone before in terms of Gil.

It's very accessible prose. The translator Jessica Cohen has done a marvellous job because it doesn't lose any of its cultural flavour in the translation.

My thanks to Ana McLaughlin at riverrun books for a gifted copy of Three.