Why would a man beat his wife into a coma after nearly thirty years of apparently happy marriage? When Oliver unravels, he does it in spectacularly brutal fashion.
Told from several different perspectives, all of them fascinating, it turns out Oliver’s childhood was one of extreme emotional deprivation. Nevertheless, as an adult he managed to make a success of himself as a children’s author and marry well. Just how he did that is the subject of his eventual unravelling.
Like Nugent’s later thriller Lying in Wait, this is an excellent, intelligent thriller where every character is given their own voice, and all of them are plausible and compelling. Nugent is a master at demonstrating how psychopaths can move very comfortably among us, presenting as normal people; a chilling thought that may have you examining the people around you with a little more focus. Clearly, you don’t want to be around people like Oliver when all their lies unravel.
At just 231 pages, Unravelling Oliver is the kind of book that just begs to be read swiftly, in one sitting. Preferably with some wine and cheese and biscuits at your side. My advice? Go right ahead. Unravel it.
