Psychiatrist Cal Bradley seems to have found the perfect wife in Marie, his spouse of fifteen years. Then a series of upsetting events causes him to doubt that he truly knows the woman who seems so devoted to him. He's confronted with ethical problems in his profession as his domestic world begins to come apart. Peter Blue, a l9 year old patient, is a compelling presence---troubled and suicidal, yet also possessed of a healing power which revitalizes other troubled young people around him. Peter's secrets are inexplicably interwoven with Marie's mysterious past.

Klavan's book, in the best thriller tradition, will enchant you.


Excellent   October 21, 2001
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

In New England, teenager Peter Blue loses control when he and his girlfriend Jenny Wilbur argue. Peter beats her up, steals a gun and money from the recycling center, and sets fire to a church. Police Chief Orrin Hunnicut arrests Peter, who is charged with arson, burglary, larceny, theft of a firearm, threatening a cop, and reckless endangerment. When Peter tries to hang himself in his cell, Father Fairfax asks highly respected psychiatrist Cal Bradley to evaluate the nineteen-year-old.

Cal lives a wonderful life loving his wife Marie and their two children, but he sees Peter as a fascinating look at the darker side of humanity. Cal quickly realizes that Peter is insanely enraged with a town visitor. Cal also notices his beloved spouse talking with this stranger in the nearby woods, but when he asks her about him, Marie lies to him. Cal begins to learn about Marie's past, which stuns him. Not long afterward, the stranger is found dead while Orrin struggles to uncover the identity of the killer.

MAN AND WIFE is an exciting thriller that works because the townsfolk seem real and Cal's first hand account allows a deep look inside his mind as readers see first hand his metamorphosis. Though a small town setting, the tale is fast-paced proving that global destruction is not the only background for the genre. As expected from Andrew Klavan, readers have a one sitting thriller that never slows down for even a paragraph.

Harriet Klausner


A gripping novel of psychological suspense.   December 30, 2001
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

In Andrew Klavan's novel, "Man and Wife," Cal Bradley is a respected psychiatrist who heads up a clinic in a quiet New England town. Cal lives an idyllic life with his lovely wife, Marie, and their three young children. Marie is a former waitress who had a violent and traumatic childhood which she prefers to forget. Now, she is a homebody and a regular churchgoer who is completely devoted to Cal and the kids. Life is good.

Naturally, things do not stay that way. Cal is suddenly faced with the troubling case of Peter Blue, a nineteen-year-old boy who has been arrested for assault, burglary, arson and threatening a police officer. The only way to keep Peter out of jail, where he has already attempted suicide, is to bring him to Cal's clinic for an assessment and then psychiatric treatment. Cal not only delves into Peter's psyche, but he explores his own as well, flashing back to memories of his relationship with his troubled parents and his self-destructive sister, Mina.

Cal's problems are just beginning. On an outing in the woods, he thinks that he spots his wife talking to a stranger who seems to know her. Marie denies that the incident took place. Soon Cal and his family are threatened, and he fears that something or someone is out to destroy him. Events soon spiral out of control and Cal faces psychological and moral dilemmas that threaten to tear both him and his family apart.

Klavan does a masterful job of building up suspense and he manages to keep the reader off guard. Is Cal imagining the threats to his family? Is there really a mysterious stranger out to get him? We are not sure of the answers to these questions at first, and we are compelled to keep reading to figure out what is really going on. The characters are vividly and sympathetically depicted and Klavans's lush descriptions of the scenic New England landscape contrast nicely with the sinister events in the novel.

"Man and Wife" is a taut and accomplished psychological thriller that will keep you up at night until you have turned the last page. Klavan explores the themes of how our troubled pasts, including the secrets we keep and the lies that we tell, inevitably come back to haunt us in one way or another.


One of the best books I have read in recent years   March 20, 2005
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This is my first Klavan novel, and it was engrossing. Its greatest strength is the unique and powerful love story, in my opinion. Klavan describes what I think true love is about, the almost miraculous nature of it, unexpected, unforced, irrestible, rendering its captives completely devoted to each other, and, thus, vulnerable. Not enough of that kind of love around, it seems, but nice to see that someone can portray it beautifully. The suspense was also good, but this one clearly revolves around love, from the outstanding and unforgettable first line forward.


Fantastic   October 30, 2001
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This is my second Andrew Klavan book, the first being True Crime. This one blew True Crime away. It was a great great great book. The writing was fast paced and well written.
The story line was exciting and original.
You will read this book in one day and it will fully satisfy you.