SWF Seeks Same

The new roommate is Hedra, a diffident, somewhat homely woman whose deferential nature Allie imagines will be an appealing quality in a new roommate. Hedra, however, begins to wreak her havoc only after she has been invited inside. Her undisguised admiration for Allie soon begins to seem something more like idolatry, and Allie is distressed when she returns home unexpectedly one day to find Hedra trying on her clothes. But this is, of course, just the beginning. Inexplicable things begin to happen in Allieīs life, including a series of obscene phone calls and an odd run-in with a strange man on the street, and it doesnīt take long for her to link these occurrences to the bizarre, obsessive Hedra.

Encroachment is one of this novelīs most dominant themes and Lutz does a splendid job of creating an atmosphere of claustrophobic paranoia. From coincidental encounters on the street and in restaurants to all manner of intrusive phone calls to Hedraīs almost constant presence in the apartment, Allieīs life seems boxed in, and New York City seems surprisingly small and menacing. She feels both anonymous and specifically targeted, a feeling brought about by Hedraīs actions but also reinforced throughout the book by the seemingly predatory nature of many of the people who cross Allieīs path. One of the best things Lutz does in this book is to keep the intentions of the male characters inscrutable; they appear to us as they appear to Allie, and the result is that even the friendly, boyish next-door neighbor arouses our suspicions, and contributes to the air of paranoia we cannot help but breathe with her.

• Night Kills
• The Night Watcher

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Battle Born
• The Girl Who Played with Fire