As their holiday unfolds, Colin and Mary are locked into their own intimacy. They groom themselves meticulously, as though there awaits someone who cares deeply about how they appear. When they meet a man with a disturbing story to tell they become drawn into fantasy of violence and obsession.

'McEwan, that master of the taciturn macabre, so orgnises his narrative that, without insisting anything, every turn and glimpse is another tightening of the noose' - OBSERVER