Summer House with Swimming Pool by Herman Koch

My goodness this man is a chilling writer. I loved the last book of his I read, The Dinner, but this one is possibly even better. It is another psychological thriller, about a doctor, Marc, his family – wife Caroline and daughters Julia and Lisa – who go on holidays with an actor, Ralph, and his wife Judith. They meet up with a film director Stanley and his girlfriend Emanuelle. In case anyone other than me reads this, I’m not going to describe the pivotal event that occurs. But you feel it coming with a sense of horror, through the technique of a first person narrative with Marc is telling the story in retrospect. There’s a chilling sense of impending trouble that makes you read this book in great greedy gulps. The characters are marvellously drawn; the men in particular are truly awful people. Their characters are mean spirited and unpleasant and they have particularly dubious moral compasses. But they too are compelling, like watching a snake. There’s a lot to think about in this book – parallels between characters, morality, the relationships between males and females – so it would be a fantastic choice for a book club discussion.