Shear (Parks, Tim): A Novel

A geologist turns sleuth in this "engrossing and beautifully written suspense novel" set in Greece by the author of the Booker Prize shortlisted Europa (The New York Times) .

A New York Times Notable Book

In the hallucinatory light and heat of a Mediterranean island, London geologist Peter Nicholson arrives to inspect a granite quarry where a worker has died under suspicious circumstances. Hired to write as damning a report as possible, Peter brings his young mistress and pushes his wife and family to the back of his mind. But his blithe plans are disrupted by the arrival of the dead man's widow, hell-bent on revenge; a fax from his wife announcing her pregnancy; and a threatening dispute with the quarry owners.

By the time the home office instructs Peter to drop the case, it is too late. He has already stumbled into a web of blackmail, deception, and murder.

Geological shear occurs when intense pressure from multiple angles acts on a rock formation, and inShear, Tim Parks has created a "positively volcanic . . . smolderingly brilliant" portrait of a man caught between powerful forces (BOOKLIST ) .

"The novel impresses deeply with its tautness, precision of detail, sharp dialogue, vivid characters, apt symbolism." - The New York Times Book Review Read more Continue reading Read less FROM THE BACK COVER
In the hallucinatory light and heat of a Mediterranean island, a geologist arrives to inspect a granite quarry where a worker has been killed in suspicious circumstances. Conflicting messages and complex motivations abound until, from the dust and roar of the stone mill, the jagged contours of a harrowing conspiracy emerge. --This text refers to the paperback edition. FROM PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Parks's versatility and supple prose is again manifested in his sixth novel, his second foray into the psychological suspense genre (though this work has neither the mesmerizing narrative voice nor the taut pacing of the praised Juggling with the Stars .) Here he uses geological metaphors to delineate the moral and emotional conflicts of his characters--"shear" being the way a quarried rock may expand and break after enormous stresses are released. Sent to Italy to investigate the death of a quarry employee, geologist Peter Nicholson receives bribes of cash and sex from Thea, daughter of the firm's wily boss, and is told to write a report exonerating the company. Marrried and a father, Nicholson feels his body's texture fatally vulnerable to his own "shear." Though he has brought along his mistress, 18-year-old Margaret, he nonetheless succumbs to Thea's seduction. His pregnant wife faxes him from England, threatening an abortion. The dead man's widow and child show up with a shard of blood-stained rock. In this area of the world, rock is ubiquitous-- in door and window sills, basins, stairs, cobblestones. Grimly introspective, Nicholson is haunted by the arid volcanic landscape and the "evil in the rock" which infects his foes and himself. Only "his pearl" Margaret (a play on the etymology of her name) remains free of taint, pearls being organic rather than mineral. Events turn sinister, while the tale takes on mythic resonance from the region's ancient gods--Theseus, Neptune, Pandora. Unfortunately, some of the technical analyses of rock components are turgid, but the tale's horrific denouement proves memorable.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindleedition edition. FROM BOOKLIST
Parks' books are like crystals: multifaceted, hard-edged, and radiant. But this one, his seventh novel, is positively volcanic. It takes place over the course of a few feverish days in the life of a geologist named Peter Nicholson. Peter has been sent to a sunstruck island in the Mediterranean to inspect a quarry and report on the quality of the granite being produced for an office building in Australia. Intent on mixing pleasure with work, he brings along his young mistress, but their idyll is shattered by an angry widow determined to expose the truth about her stoneworker husband's suspicious death. Matters are further complicated by a fax from Peter's wife informing him that she's pregnant and by the ruthless seductiveness of his drop-dead gorgeous interpreter. As Parks carefully sets out each piece in this diabolical mosaic, he transmutes his extensive knowledge about rock into images of tremendous metaphorical and emotional richness. Shear, for instance, occurs when pressure is applied in at least two different and not diametrically opposite directions. Peter is, without a doubt, experiencing shear. The question, then, is, can he sustain it? As Parks' hero puzzles over and revels in his predicament, Parks considers the nature of uniqueness and the limits of love, the brutal beauty of the earth and all the consequences of desire and extreme action. Smolderingly brilliant. Donna Seaman --This text refers to an alternate kindleedition edition. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tim Parks teaches English at the University of Verona. --This text refers to an alternate kindleedition edition. FROM LIBRARY JOURNAL
Expecting a relaxing business trip abroad with Margaret, the young mistress he adores, English geologist Peter Nicholson is unpleasantly surprised when his inspection of a quarry operation producing materials for the massive Marlborough Place Project requires more than cursory attention. At first, problems seem limited to routine details of quality control, but the shrill presence of half-mad Mrs. Owen, widow of an employee killed at the site, is troubling: she insists retribution is due for her husband's death, but the company dismisses questions concerning her accusations. Looking deeper, Peter becomes entangled in suspicions and in a sexual liaison with the plant director's manipulative daughter. His problems are compounded when a FAX arrives announcing his wife's pregnancy and Margaret promptly decrees tha