The Barrens

by Joyce Carol Oates

"Joyce Carol Oates (writing as Rosamond Smith) turns her literary skills to the startling, complex tale of a serial killer and the stories of the people that his ghastly crimes touch - and transform.". "People like Matt McBride. Matt was barely out of junior high when the mutilated body of the first victim - a popular, pretty teenager - was uncovered in the desolate New Jersey Pine Barrens. Although he had hardly known the girl, Matt has long felt guilty at not having been able somehow to prevent the atrocity. Its horror has haunted Matt's memory for years, and now another attractive young woman has disappeared. Matt knew this victim, too. Just possibly he knew her more intimately than he is prepared to admit." "By degrees Matt becomes obsessed with a guilt he can neither comprehend nor assuage. The fabric of his seemingly happy marriage begins to unravel. His increasingly erratic behavior heightens police suspicions. It also draws official attention away from an artist - a man of limi