THE NARCISSIST'S DAUGHTER

Syd Redding is a jaded working-class kid with aspirations for medical school who is currently underachieving in a hospital medical lab. His life is electrified when he's seduced by Joyce, the gorgeous wife of his egotistical boss. Syd soon discovers, however, that he's been used by the voyeuristic couple, a realization that propels him on a vague plan of revenge involving their unsuspecting teenaged daughter as a foil. This being a noir novel, nothing goes as intended and real motives are murky. Credit Erik Steele with giving Syd a nihilistic edginess and Joyce a sexuality that makes Syd's compulsion, if not excusable, at least understandable. Steele's Syd lightens in tone at the implausible conclusion, but the change is wholly consistent with Holden's choices. M.O. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/NOV 05]