Christine Mangan - rising queen of psychological thrillers

Holding my dog-eared copy of Christine Mangan's Tangerine after finishing the epilogue, I felt as though I'd need to take a moment to process the becomings of the characters and events of the novel. Take a moment to detach myself from Mangan's ferocious grasp that had taken hold and tightened through the duration of the book. Anyone that knows me well will know that Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr Ripley is my all time favourite book - the genre enraptures me in a way that no other can. First and foremost, Tangerine has a similar ambiance to Highsmith's that I have sorely missed.

The novel follows two characters, Lucy and Alice, who are former roommates from their time at Bennington School. In their time there, they formed a suffocating bond and this resulted in a horrible event that destroyed their, once affectionate, friendship. A few years down the line, and Lucy arrives in Tangier in hopes to see Alice and rekindle their former friendship. At first, it seems as though she brings out the best in timid Alice, her presence spurring Alice to change the comfortable lifestyle she has manifested. However, as time goes on, it's clear to see that the ways in which Lucy is affecting Alice aren't as well intended as they seem. Set in the blistering heat of Tangier married with the bothersome "mosquitos" at every corner, the tension in this book is enough to make you literally sit on the edge of your seat and nibble your fingernails in hopes that you can calm the anxiety that Mangan instills on you.

There are several elements of this book that I loved. Mangan chose to use 1st person, alternating between both characters to create a sense of disorientation for the reader by being positioned between Alice's eventual madness and Lucy's sinister ability to plot her moves laced with her undying love for Alice. Psychologically, this book is a test. Additionally, unusually for me, I loved the 1950's era setting, as it stripped back all use of phones and new technology to give the atmosphere a definite sense of isolation.

Ultimately, this is undoubtedly a page turner in every sense of the phrase. You will find yourself enraptured by the lies and games that are spun with every chapter and will find the ending somewhat unsatisfying, as Mangan uses harsh reality to end her book with defiance and rebelliousness.