Review: Pure Evil Behind Those Polite British Smiles
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 14, 2012
This is a humdinger of a psycho-thriller that reminded me of "The Collector" by John Fowles and "The Moviegoer" by Walker Percy.  The pure evil of the main character, Gloria, is never in doubt.  With each person she kills, she adds another doll to the collection on her windowsill--hence the title.  Reading this book is an exercise in mountin dread, as Gloria increasingly takes over the life of everyone she meets through her manipulative maneuvers.  It's interesting that the polite British sense of decorum is as much to blame for the success of Gloria's crimes as much as Gloria herself.  If one of her victims had simply spoken directly to her, and thrown her out instead of passively putting up with her, she wouldn't have collected quite so many dolls.  The only thing not to like about the book, oddly enough, was the ending, which neither surprised nor satisfied me.  I can't really go into the reasons without giving too much away.  And I greatly enjoyed the book in spite of the ending, and in fact wanted it to continue.