by Max Manning
Oliver scowled. “You could be the prime minister for all I care. Don’t come near my crime scene again unless you’re wearing a fucking forensic suit.” With that, he strode off, his colleague scurrying after him.
It was going to be another long day and, unless they struck lucky, an even longer night. Fenton pulled his cell phone out of his jacket pocket. The call was answered after the sixth ring.
His neighbor sounded flustered. “Bad timing,” she said. “We’re late for school.”
“Tina, I need a favor.” Fenton paused, hoping for a positive response. He didn’t get one. “Something’s come up, and I’m going to be late. Very late. Can she sleep over?”
The silence on the other end stretched. When his neighbor finally spoke, her words sounded clipped. “It’s early. How do you know you’re going to be so late?”
“You’ll see it on the news. It can’t be helped. I’m sorry.”
“You know this can’t go on, don’t you? It’s not fair.”
“I’ll sort it out. I’ll call the agency.”
Fenton waited for at least thirty seconds before he realized the call had been terminated. He took that as a yes.
He was staring at his cell phone’s blank screen, momentarily paralyzed by guilt, when he heard footsteps. He turned to see a pale, frowning face, topped with cropped reddish hair.
“Everything all right, sir?”
Detective Constable Ince had been on the team for less than six months. In that time, Fenton had come to appreciate his youthful enthusiasm. “You were the first detective on the scene?” Fenton said. It came out more as a statement than a question.
Ince nodded. “Ten minutes after the uniforms found her. Made sure the area was sealed off straightaway.” He paused for a few seconds, running the fingers of his left hand across the stubble on his head as he tried to come up with something to impress his boss. “I think she’s probably been there all night, because the park closes at dusk and the gates are locked. I remember thinking there was a lot of blood.”
Fenton kept the disappointment off his face. He was good at that. He’d had a lot of practice. Sometimes first sight of the body can provide a gem, a little nugget of information that can help break a case. Not this time.
Ince rubbed his head harder and pressed on. “She wouldn’t have been visible from Gore Street or from inside the park because of the undergrowth, but she would probably have been found by a dog walker if we hadn’t gotten there first.”
“We need the victim’s ID confirmed,” Fenton said. “I know I can trust you to get it done quickly.” He watched as Ince walked away, a spring in his step, his head held a little higher.
Don’t Look Now
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Reading Group Guide
1. At the opening of The Victim, we see Gem fall prey to what appears to be a carjacking. If you were in Gem’s shoes, how would you react? Do you think you would submit, or would you try to fight back?
2. Compare Gem throughout these two scenarios—Gem the victim versus Gem the warrior. What differences do you see? Do you think the decisions we make fundamentally change us as humans?
3. What do you make of Drew? Do you think he got what he deserved in the end? Why or why not?
4. Describe the role fate and choice play in the story. What do you think has the most influence: fate or the choices we make? Or is it a combination of both?
5. Con Norton is the mastermind behind the story. Why do you think he is obsessed with this game? What drives him to act in both story lines?
6. Describe Detective Day. What are some of his strengths? What faults does he fall victim to? Do you think his demotion was warranted?
7. At one point, Revell asks Gem what advice she would give to women who found themselves in the same situation. What advice would you give?
8. What drives Norton’s fascination with Gem? What does it say about him as a character?
9. Detective Day says he doesn’t believe in good luck or bad luck; rather, he believes in good people and bad people. Do you agree with this? Why or why not?
10. What is Gem’s relationship with her job in both scenarios? Imagine you were in Gem’s shoes. What do you think your reaction would be? Would you want to go back to work, or would you make a different lifestyle choice?
11. What happened in Norton’s childhood that influenced the person he became? Do you think he was “born bad,” or was he a victim of his circumstances?
12. Describe the connection between Norton and Drew. What do you think brought them together? What set the wheels of this game in motion?
13. How do the choices Gem makes ultimately influence her fate?
A Conversation with the Author
The Victim is a taut and gripping thriller. What was your inspiration for the story?
The idea for the plot of The Victim came to me while I was halfway through my first crime thriller, Don’t Look Now. I spent many years covering crime incidents as a news reporter, and when considering the plight of victims, I’d often wondered if things might have turned out better or worse for them if they’d made different choices. What if they’d gone to a different bar that night? What if they hadn’t turned down that street? What if they’d handed over their money straightaway? Of course, where there is a victim, there is also a criminal, and he or she has choices to make too.
The narrative structure you’ve created is extremely unique. What made you want to write a story with two opposing threads?
I decided that I needed to write a story with two threads to emphasize how powerful the choices we make are when it comes to determining who we become. I wanted to explore how our moments of decision can shape our personal futures. Gem has to make a split-second decision at the beginning of The Victim. At that point, the story divides into alternating threads and leads to very different outcomes.
Were there any challenges to writing in this format? How did you overcome them?
Writing two parallel story lines is definitely a challenge! I had to make a lot of notes to keep track of each thread. They had to be different but not too different, complex but not too complex. I wanted each of the story lines to be entertaining and gripping in their own way.
Which character was the most fun to write? Which presented the greatest challenge?
I thoroughly enjoyed writing the character of Con Norton, the mastermind behind the Fight or Submit game that runs through The Victim. I always find trying to delve deep into the mind of a psychopath a fascinating and sometimes deeply satisfying exercise. But there is no need to be alarmed! There is an immense amount of research material available on the workings of a psychopath’s mind, and imagination can be more powerful than knowledge. Gem was great fun to write, too, but definitely challenging, especially as her character developed differently in each thread.
Gem as the victim is almost a completely different character compared to Gem as the warrior. Was this intentional? How did you keep them so different yet still connected?
The whole point of the separate threads is to explore how the choices we make can determine who we become. The lives of Gem the victim and Gem the warrior take different twists and turns, and their characters develop differently in response. At the same time, Gem the victim and Gem the warrior are the same woman. It’s just that they respond differently in a moment of crisis, and that takes them on different journeys.
What do you think ultimately drives our lives—choice, fate, or a little bit of both?
This is a big question! I think maybe it’s a little bit of both, with choice being the more powerful of the two. It’s how we respond to what fate puts in front of us that shapes our future. Certainly, as a crime thriller writer, I would warn the characters in my books to shape their own destinies, or someone else will take control and do it for them!
What does your writing process look like?
M
y writing process may appear pretty chaotic, but I’ve come to realize that I have quite a rigid routine. I am not a morning person and never start writing until mid- to late afternoon and go on until I hit my daily word target. I always know how the story begins and how I want it to end. The hardest part is finding my way through the maze in the middle. I write via a laptop, and as ideas often pop into my head, I scribble them down on Post-it Notes and stick them on the wall of my office. I rarely look at the notes again, and probably wouldn’t be able to read them anyway because my handwriting is so untidy.
If you could give one piece of advice to future thriller writers, what would it be?
Above all else, once you start to write, focus on getting the first draft finished. Don’t obsess about rewriting or editing your work as you go along. It will slow you down, confuse and demoralize you. Getting the first draft completed is so important. Once you have it, then you can rewrite, rewrite, edit, edit, edit.
When you’re not writing, how do you spend your time?
When I’m not at my desk writing, I’m often reading. Also, because being a writer involves spending so many hours sitting down in an office, I like to spend time outdoors. I love walking, especially coastal walks, and cycling.
Acknowledgments
By the time a novel is out there on the shelves, it is never the work of just one person. I’m truly grateful to everybody who has helped this one on its way.
My editor, Shana Drehs, the talented editorial director at Sourcebooks, has been fantastic, along with her editing team, including MJ Johnston, Heather Hall, and Sabrina Baskey.
I also want to express my gratitude to my amazing agent, Madeleine Milburn, of the Madeleine Milburn Ltd. literary, TV, and film agency, whose insights have, as always, been invaluable.
A thank-you is due to my brother, Patrick, a former long-serving police detective, who answered several questions I had regarding investigation protocol. Any mistakes are, of course, down to me.
The encouragement of those close to you is vital in the early days, especially when an author is trying to get to grips with a first draft. I consider myself so lucky to have the incredible love and support of my family, and special mention must go to my wife, Valerie, a dedicated and valued reader.
About the Author
Max Manning started his career in journalism in the UK, where he worked at the Daily Express and the Daily Telegraph. He is the author of Don’t Look Now. He lives in London.
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