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Ruth Rendell
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Live Flesh Kindle Edition

by Ruth Rendell (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 395 ratings
See all formats and editions
From a New York Times–bestselling author: A terrifying psychological thriller that dives deep into the mind of a sexual predator.

In a remote corner of London, a woman is walking her dog when a man grabs her from behind. She screams, and her attacker flees, escaping into a nearby house, where he finds another victim. Victor Jenner has a compulsion he does not understand—to grab women, to hurt them—and he also has a gun. When it goes off, grievously wounding a police officer, it marks the beginning of a long stretch in jail for Victor.
 
Released ten years later, Victor meets the young policeman he shot—and falls head over heels for the officer’s girlfriend. Back on the street, Victor is torn between the desire to live a better life and the knowledge that he will soon give in to his most evil yearnings.
 
The winner of three Edgar Awards, Ruth Rendell was one of the most celebrated thriller authors of the twentieth century. Live Flesh is “a superb work [and] a compelling psychological portrait” of a dark mind (Philadelphia Daily News).
Previous page
  1. Print length
    276 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller
  5. Publication date
    December 28, 2010
  6. File size
    5034 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“A superb work . . . a compelling psychological portrait . . . a helluva good novel.”—Philadelphia Daily News “Chillingly memorable fiction . . . Rendell is a master of her craft.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “Rendell specializes in coolly, even morbidly, detached tales of mayhem. The O. Henry-meets-Grand Guignol twists of her most characteristic work . . . feel like they’ve been thought up by someone with ice water in her veins.” —Salon.com

From the Inside Flap

After ten years in prison for shooting -- and permanently crippling -- a young policeman, Victor Jenner is released to a strange new world and told to make a new life for himself. It's hard to fill the days, but at least there's one blessing -- he was never convicted for all those rapes he committed. Then Victor meets David, the policeman he shot all those years ago, and David's beautiful girlfriend, Clare. And suddenly Victor's new life is starting to look an awful lot like the old one . . .

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00AG8GWTE
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller (December 28, 2010)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 28, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 5034 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 276 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 395 ratings

About the author

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Ruth Rendell

Ruth Rendell

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Edgar Award–winning author Ruth Rendell (1930-2015) wrote more than seventy books and sold more than twenty million copies worldwide. A fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (London), she was the recipient of the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Crime Writers’ Association. Rendell’s award-winning novels include A Demon in My View (1976), A Dark-Adapted Eye (1987), and King Solomon’s Carpet (1991). Her popular crime stories featuring Chief Inspector Reginald Wexford were adapted into a long-running British television series (1987–2000) starring George Baker.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
395 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Tom Richardson
5.0 out of 5 stars Ruth Rendell = Best of the Best
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2024
Verified Purchase
Ruth Rendell was an incredibly gifted writer. I do not say that lightly. She knew the art of making horror, fear, and psychological terror leap off the page into your head. She mastered the use of varied perspectives to accomplish this. She knew how to venture into the souls of cops and villains alike, to make us see what they saw, and to feel what they felt. A true master at her craft.
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the thing
4.0 out of 5 stars Good read. Like most of her books
Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2018
Verified Purchase
Good read. Like most of her books, the introduction is slow and it is not until one is well into the book that the pace increases. The ending has many twists and turns. Well worth the time.
8 people found this helpful
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D
5.0 out of 5 stars Live Flesh
Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2015
Verified Purchase
What a sad book. Tragedy unbounded. From the first few pages, the reader hopes for respite and repose. But it isn't until the final page that all in question is made clear. Dear Ruth, This one is too much and not for the faint hearted.
5 people found this helpful
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M. J. Post
3.0 out of 5 stars Not my favorite Ruth Rendell book.
Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2018
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I've read 8 or 10 Rendell/Barbara Vine books and this might be my least favorite. I hated the main character, Victor Jenner, but he's intended to be unlikable I know. The book reminded me a lot of Dreiser's An American Tragedy.
2 people found this helpful
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C. Ann
4.0 out of 5 stars A GOOD READ
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2014
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An original. The characters are well drawn, especially Victor. The reasons I did not give it 5 stars are that I thought it unbelievable that David and Clare were so immediately welcoming and did nothing to protect themselves, and I thought the ending a bit abrupt. That being said I recommend this for fans of this genre.
6 people found this helpful
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Deborah Morris
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2013
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Consider that Pedro Almodovar moved this to Spain and made a movie of it ... you will start to get some idea of how very strange and wonderful it is. A fantastic read.
4 people found this helpful
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M Jernigan
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2014
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Worth the read!
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S. Widtfeldt
4.0 out of 5 stars Rendell Does Creepy and Crazy Well
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2014
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Ruth Rendell writes psychological crime novels from inside the mind of the madman better than any current writer that I have read. And as with many British writers, the descriptive prose accompanying the story line flows beautifully. I'm about to read my fifth Rendell novel, and have already chosen the sixth.
4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Geoff Dufour
5.0 out of 5 stars As riveting as it is disturbing
Reviewed in Canada on January 24, 2022
Verified Purchase
Ms. Rendell, too clearly and vividly for comfort at times, portrays the world as seen by Victor, a mentally disturbed young man recently released from prison. Going into much greater detail would be to risk spoiling a splendid read. There are moments where you, in a self congratulatory glow, will have determined you have divined the plot and have foreseen the ending. You’ll be wrong. More than once. In retrospect, you’ll see that the superbly developed characters could do no other than as Ms. Rendell relates. It is a fine, fine book worthy of a slow and attentive read.
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meryon
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling and a litttle disturbing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 30, 2017
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it is not a detective story and it is not a psychological thriller. None the less the story grips you. I actually found it quite difficult to read as it is a harsh examination of human nature. You are torn between sympathy and dislike for more than one character. It is a clever book. It makes you realise how some minds work. It is one of those books which you will not forget.
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Dolce
5.0 out of 5 stars 帯も付いて、綺麗で使用感もなく大満足です。
Reviewed in Japan on October 13, 2021
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この作家の作品を全て読破する予定ですが、図書館に所蔵されてませんでした。
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Betty
5.0 out of 5 stars englische Krimis
Reviewed in Germany on April 20, 2013
Verified Purchase
Bin ein Fan von Ruth Rendell! Die älteren Ausgaben sind genauso spannend zu lesen wie die leider seltener werdenden Neuerscheinungen. Im englischen Original für mich immer ein besonderes Lesevergnügen.
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B. J. Bray
4.0 out of 5 stars Up to her usual standard
Reviewed in Australia on July 6, 2015
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A Ruth Rendell novel is always good read, never ever disappointed by her novels.
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