The Face
Published on 12. June 2003
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-1-84354-143-1 (ISBN)
Description
'Heart-stopping... The Face is a thriller unlike any I've ever read' Elizabeth Day, Literary Review
When Ray Arthur, a retired detective, is killed mysteriously in a road accident, his daughter Zoe is shattered. Her need to understand his life, and the circumstances of his death, sends her home to the town in which she grew up. She tracks down Declan, a former police artist and a one-time friend of her father's. Through their fraught encounters, a terrible picture of guilt and betrayal emerges.
With forensic skill, Phil Whitaker peels back the layers of distortion and family myth to expose the truth about Ray Arthur's friendship with Declan and their secret collaboration over a dreadful crime against a young girl.
A dark portrayal of the sexual chemistry within families, The Face is a deeply grown-up novel that lives in the imagination long after the final page. Its compellingportrayals of public and private lives ask fundamental questions about guilt and innocence, flesh and blood, and whether we can ever truly know another person.
When Ray Arthur, a retired detective, is killed mysteriously in a road accident, his daughter Zoe is shattered. Her need to understand his life, and the circumstances of his death, sends her home to the town in which she grew up. She tracks down Declan, a former police artist and a one-time friend of her father's. Through their fraught encounters, a terrible picture of guilt and betrayal emerges.
With forensic skill, Phil Whitaker peels back the layers of distortion and family myth to expose the truth about Ray Arthur's friendship with Declan and their secret collaboration over a dreadful crime against a young girl.
A dark portrayal of the sexual chemistry within families, The Face is a deeply grown-up novel that lives in the imagination long after the final page. Its compellingportrayals of public and private lives ask fundamental questions about guilt and innocence, flesh and blood, and whether we can ever truly know another person.
More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 130 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
250 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84354-143-1 (9781843541431)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Phil Whitaker ('an intelligent, sympathetic and eloquent writer' Sunday Telegraph) is the author of two previous novels. Eclipse of the Sun won the Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, a Betty Trask Award, and was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award. Triangulation was joint winner of the Encore Award for best second novel. He lives in Oxford with his wife and children, and divides his time between writing and his work as a forensic medical examiner and GP.