The Comfort of Strangers

Finalist for the Man Booker Prize 

On vacation in a city that may or may not be Venice, Mary and Colin are growing weary of each other, lost among the city's ancient, endlessly winding streets. Then one night, on their way to a late dinner, they meet a stranger named Robert. Forceful, insistent, perhaps too forthcoming, Robert leads them through the city—and away from their ordinary lives forever. Writing with psychological precision and a mesmerizing tone of inevitability, McEwan creates a classic tale of suspense and erotic menace.

"Every turn, every glimpse is another tightening of the noose. The evils of power and the power of evil are transmitted with a steely coolness, and in a prose that has a feline grace." —The Observer (London)