Precipice

The idea of murder, once formed in her mind, simply would not go away. Thus begins this thrilling and harrowing tale of one family and one mysterious young woman, brought together by destiny to play out a bizarre, deadly game of lies, deceit, sexual obsession, and bloody revenge in the most beautiful place on earth. In tropical St. Thomas, on a remote precipice high above the Caribbean, stands the magnificent house called Cliffhanger. This is the home of the Prescotts: Kay, the lovely, rich widow; Adam, her second husband, a dashing yachtsman; and Lisa, her teenage daughter. A perfect family living in their perfect, fairy-tale castle. One day, a beautiful young woman arrives at Cliffhanger. She is to be a secretary to Kay and a companion to Lisa. She says that she is from New York, and that she has come to the island to escape from an unhappy love affair. Her name, she tells them, is Diana Meissen. Her name is not Diana Meissen. She is escaping from something, but it is not an unhappy love affair. One of her suitcases contains a scrapbook of faded newspaper clippings. And a knife. The game has begun, and now the lives of Kay Prescott and her family will never be the same. Now they will have to play the young woman's game, a game that has no rules and only one winner. Brilliantly conceived, Precipice introduces a masterful new voice into the world of suspense fiction. Tom Savage has, with literary skill and a subtle sense of evil, created a memorable story of deception and manipulation, and a vivid portrait of one of the most compelling characters in recent literature. He leads us on a dark journey into the heart and mind of a complex, enigmatic young woman until she stands before us, triumphant, in a final moment of awesome violence and shocking revelation.