The Devil's Feather

The stunning new thriller from Britain's no.1 crime writer [Devil's feather - [derivation Turkish] - a woman who stirs a man's interest without realising it; the unwitting cause of sexual arousal] With private security firms supplying bodyguards in every theatre of war, who will notice the emergence of a sexual psychopath from the ranks of the mercenaries? When five women are brutally murdered in Sierra Leone, Reuter's correspondent, Connie Burns, questions the arrest of three rebel soldiers for the crimes. No one listens. In the wake of a vicious civil war which saw hundreds of thousands killed and displaced, the rape and murder of women is of little consequence. And who cares if child soldiers are beaten into a confession? With little to go on, except her witnessing of a savage attack on a prostitute, Connie believes a foreigner's responsible. A man who claims to have been in the SAS and works as a bodyguard to a Lebanese diamond trader. She remembers him from Kinshasa when he was a mercenary for Laurent Kabila's regime, and she suspects he uses the chaos of war to act out sadistic fantasies against women. Two years later in Iraq, the consequences of her second attempt to expose him are devastating. Terrified, degraded and destroyed, she goes into hiding in England and tries to rebuild the person she was before being subjected to three days of conditioning in a Baghdad cellar. In the process, she strikes up a friendship with Jess Derbyshire, a Ioner whose reclusive nature has alienated her from the rest of the Dorset community where she lives. Seeing parallels between herself and Jess, Connie borrows from the other woman's strength and makes the hazardous decision to attempt a third unmasking of a serial killer...knowing he will come looking for her...

About the Author :
Minette Walters is England’s bestselling female crime writer. She has written 11 novels and has won the CWA John Creasey Award, the Edgar Allan Poe Award and two CWA Gold Daggers for Fiction. Minette Walters lives in Dorset with her husband and two children.

Review :
""The Devil's Feather "seems like a mystery intent on being politically timely. But because Walters is a far better writer than that, her new novel is much more, dealing with the timeless theme of victimization . . . With a casual, easy-to-read writing style, Walters is a rare breed: the kind of author who can concoct believable characters and set them down in the middle of entertaining plots that address timeless moral issues." -Dorman T. Shindler, "Denver Post" "A scary thriller . . . Walters �has the� ability to use horror-movie logic to terrifying effect." -"The New Yorker" "Some of today's best young writers are moving the crime novel in the direction of the social novel, examining individual crimes against a background of larger injustice �and� "The Devil's Feather" moves in this direction . . . Its strongest scenes offer searing realism: rape and murder in Sierra Leone and Iraq, and flashbacks to Burns's family losing its Zimbabwe farm to thugs supported by the Mugabe regime. Those episodes have urgency and bite . . . Walters is a talented writer." -Patrick Anderson, "The Washington Post" "Walters keeps the details �of her heroine's kidnapping� chillingly vague . . . While awaiting her "Eye of the Needle "reckoning with MacKenzie, �Burns� unravels an appalling local crime. Walters gracefully balances crowd-pleasing theatrics with a wickedly ambiguous ending." -"Entertainment Weekly "(EW pick) "The number of high-grade thrillers set in and around the horrors of Iraq increases as writers catch up with the real crimes behind the headlines. Minette Walters' excellent new contribution, "The Devil's Feather," begins in 2004 �in� Baghdad . . . Trying torecover her mental stability in a strange, haunted house in Dorset, England, Burns makes friends with some supportive residents and waits-as do we-for the inevitable return of her once and future nemesis. �The ending� certainly is worth waiting around for." -Dick Adler, "Chicago Tribune" "Readers can count on Britain's Minette Walters for a steady stream of creepiness. Her latest novel, "The Devil's Feather," fills that quotient and then some . . . It's all chilling stuff, and it's everything Walters' fans have come to expect. Neither a series maker nor a formula writer, Walters makes her mysteries works of wide variety. But all are marked by a full measure of suspense and a hint of ambiguity . . . A fulfilling read." -Jay Strafford, "Richmond Times-Dispatch" "At one time, all it took to produce a page-turner was a clever variation on the standard formula of a plucky woman outwitting her maniacal stalker. But thanks to writers like Minette Walters, who keep pushing the boundaries, the old conventions are now more likely to be used as structural support for an analysis of timely social and political issues . . . �"The Devil's Feather "has a� psychologically complex protagonist �and� multilayered plot . . . The story is so involving, with its graphic accounts of mind control and sensitive observations about victim psychology, that you hardly realize how skillfully Walters has worked her unifying theme into three intersecting plot lines . . . She takes the suspense novel into new territory." -Marilyn Stasio, "New York Times Book Review" "�A� harrowing psychological thriller . . . Walters delivers an intense, engrossingly structured tour de force about survival and 'thesecret of freedom, courage.'" -"Publishers Weekly "(starred) "Have current events finally caught up with Walters's unremittingly brutal imagination? The latest of her masterful psychological thrillers examines the effects of terrorism as it ranges from Baghdad to West Dorset . . . Genteel and horrifying as ever." -"Kirkus Reviews "(starred) "�"The Devil's Feather"� takes a sharp turn from hard-hitting war reporting in the Baghdad section to gothic chiller when the setting switches to England. Barton House is a spooky, Bronte-like construction . . . Walters really knows how to write convincing, ever-escalating psychological suspense." -"Booklist" ""The Devil's Feather" is another Walters tour de force. The combination of fast-moving thriller and acute exploration of the psychotic mind makes this a knockout." -"The Observer" "A thriller that really does thrill-partly because we care about its protagonists, and partly because Minette Walters has an enormous talent for old-fashioned story-telling." -"Spectator" "A thoughtful and accomplished thriller." -"Daily Telegraph" "Walters has succeeded in uniting the traditional crime narrative with a distressing and effective account of the private cruelties that can flourish amid general mayhem. In doing so, she takes the genre to a deeper level." -"The Independent" "This is high octane, on-the-edge stuff, at which Walters excels . . . "The Devil's Feather "�is� engrossing reading." -"The Times "(London) "From the Hardcover edition." " "The Devil' s Feather "seems like a mystery intent on being politically timely. But because Walters is a far better writer than that, her new novel is much more, dealing with the timeless theme of victimization . . . With a casual, easy-to-read writing style, Walters is a rare breed: the kind of author who can concoct believable characters and set them down in the middle of entertaining plots that address timeless moral issues." - Dorman T. Shindler, "Denver Post" " A scary thriller . . . Walters [has the] ability to use horror-movie logic to terrifying effect." - "The New Yorker" " Some of today' s best young writers are moving the crime novel in the direction of the social novel, examining individual crimes against a background of larger injustice [and] "The Devil' s Feather" moves in this direction . . . Its strongest scenes offer searing realism: rape and murder in Sierra Leone and Iraq, and flashbacks to Burns' s family losing its Zimbabwe farm to thugs supported by the Mugabe regime. Those episodes have urgency and bite . . . Walters is a talented writer." - Patrick Anderson, "The Washington Post" " Walters keeps the details [of her heroine' s kidnapping] chillingly vague . . . While awaiting her "Eye of the Needle "reckoning with MacKenzie, [Burns] unravels an appalling local crime. Walters gracefully balances crowd-pleasing theatrics with a wickedly ambiguous ending." - "Entertainment Weekly "(EW pick) " The number of high-grade thrillers set in and around the horrors of Iraq increases as writers catch up with the real crimes behind theheadlines. Minette Walters' excellent new contribution, "The Devil' s Feather," begins in 2004 [in] Baghdad . . . Trying to recover her mental stability in a strange, haunted house in Dorset, England, Burns makes friends with some supportive residents and waits- as do we- for the inevitable return of her once and future nemesis. [The ending] certainly is worth waiting around for." - Dick Adler, "Chicago Tribune" " Readers can count on Britain' s Minette Walters for a steady stream of creepiness. Her latest novel, "The Devil' s Feather," fills that quotient and then some . . . It' s all chilling stuff, and it' s everything Walters' fans have come to expect. Neither a series maker nor a formula writer, Walters makes her mysteries works of wide variety. But all are marked by a full measure of suspense and a hint of ambiguity . . . A fulfilling read." - Jay Strafford, "Richmond Times-Dispatch" " At one time, all it took to produce a page-turner was a clever variation on the standard formula of a plucky woman outwitting her maniacal stalker. But thanks to writers like Minette Walters, who keep pushing the boundaries, the old conventions are now more likely to be used as structural support for an analysis of timely social and political issues . . . ["The Devil' s Feather "has a] psychologically complex protagonist [and] multilayered plot . . . The story is so involving, with its graphic accounts of mind control and sensitive observations about victim psychology, that you hardly realize how skillfully Walters has worked her unifying theme into three intersecting plot lines . . . Shetakes the suspense novel into new territory." - Marilyn Stasio, "New York Times Book Review" " [A] harrowing psychological thriller . . . Walters delivers an intense, engrossingly structured tour de force about survival and ' the secret of freedom, courage.' " - "Publishers Weekly "(starred) " Have current events finally caught up with Walters' s unremittingly brutal imagination? The latest of her masterful psychological thrillers examines the effects of terrorism as it ranges from Baghdad to West Dorset . . . Genteel and horrifying as ever." - "Kirkus Reviews "(starred) " ["The Devil' s Feather"] takes a sharp turn from hard-hitting war reporting in the Baghdad section to gothic chiller when the setting switches to England. Barton House is a spooky, Bronte -like construction . . . Walters really knows how to write convincing, ever-escalating psychological suspense." - "Booklist" " "The Devil' s Feather" is another Walters tour de force. The combination of fast-moving thriller and acute exploration of the psychotic mind makes this a knockout." - "The Observer" " A thriller that really does thrill- partly because we care about its protagonists, and partly because Minette Walters has an enormous talent for old-fashioned story-telling." - "Spectator" " A thoughtful and accomplished thriller." - "Daily Telegraph" " Walters has succeeded in uniting the traditional crime narrative with a distressing and effective account of the private cruelties that can flourish amidgeneral mayhem. In doing so, she takes the genre to a deeper level." - "The Independent" " This is high octane, on-the-edge stuff, at which Walters excels . . . "The Devil' s Feather "[is] engrossing reading." - "The Times "(London) "From the Hardcover edition." " Intriguing. . . . Insightful. . . . A worthy rival to P.D. James and Ruth Rendell." -- "People" " She takes the suspense novel into new territory." -- "New York Times Book Review" " Walters gracefully balances crowd-pleasing theatrics with a wickedly ambiguous ending." -- "Entertainment Weekly" " Terrifying. . . . [A] scary thriller." -- "The New Yorker"