13 Steps Down: A Psychological Thriller

by Ruth Rendell

Book Overview

A classic Rendellian loner, Mix Cellini is superstitious about the number 13. Living in a decaying house in Notting Hill, Mix is obsessed with 10 Rillington Place, where the notorious John Christie... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400095905
• ISBN13: 9781400095902
• Release Date: June 2006
• Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Human behavior Dissected By The expert!

Ruth Rendell is one of my favorite authors. She doesn't disappoint here but this is not one of her very best books. Human behavior and all its quirks are always at the forefront of her stories. This is what draws us in and keeps us turning the pages. The movie, Live Flesh, directed by Pedro Almodovar was a terrific movie based on her novel. It is well worth seeing! What a combination for writer and director!

13 STEPS DOWN by RUTH RENDELL

"Ruth Rendell does it again. A cast of characters springs fully to life in this macabre tale. The reader feels a puzzling, obscure connection to the minds of the madmen and fools. But by the same token, one recognizes and enjoys the zest of the sublimely sane and likeable protagonists

Another Gem from Ruth Rendell !

No reason to outline the plot as others have already done it. I love all Ruth Rendell books and this is no exception. This one is a delicious journey inside the mind of a killer, the kind of gruesome story that works in a book, but definitely would not work in a movie for me. I had none of the problems (mostly minor) that the other reviewers below had, but I did have one they didn't mention. There is one unexpected little twist at the end that didn't work for me. Won't say what it is and spoil the ending, but it was just weak and implausible, but it was a very minor point. I still give this 5 stars.

Rendell at her very best

Mix Chellini is the star of this latest novel by Ruth Rendell. An exercise equipment repairman whose IQ rivals his shoe size, Mix has two great passions in his life--an obsession with past serial killer, Reggie Christie, and an overwhelming fascination with beautiful model Nerissa Nash. Mix has all of the books ever written about Christie and takes great pleasure in exploring the area in which the serial killer lived. He haunts the places Nerissa frequents and spins fantasies about her continually. Mix rents rooms on the top floor of an ancient home owned by Gwendolyn Chawser and has spent a great deal of his money, making the rooms liveable. To characterize Miss Chawser as eccentric is a gross understatement, and she and Mix are like oil and water. Each lives in a bizarre world of his/her own creation. As is often the case with Ms Rendell's non-Inspector Wexford books, Thirteen Steps Down is not a mystery. Instead, it is a psychological thriller of the highest order, and the intricately woven plot and wonderful, in-depth character studies make this one of Rendell's finest efforts.

Thirteen steps lead up but they may cast you down

Ruth Rendell is the most surprising detective story writer you can imagine. In this book - her latest - she does it again. We follow the murderer from beginning to end, particularly his psychological intricacies, contradictions, obscure recesses, etc. And once again killing is never really willful, but more the result of psychological circumstances. The character is superstitious, for one, and highly neurotic, verging onto psychotic, for two. The interest of the book is to discover how small details become disruptive for such a person and grow out of all proportion in no time. The second interest is to explore his approach to love and the same approach on the side of those he chooses as sexual partners, and also the one he elects as his essential target. For him there is no counterpart's will. He wants something, so he has to have it and when the world or life deny that satisfaction he becomes frustrated, agressive or even plain murderous. He cannot accept no as an answer. This leads to a third level, to explore the life a female fashion model who is black though this will be clearly stated only page 225. This is one of the new rules coming from political correctness, and I must say I find it a little bit confusing since the ethnic origin of this model who is loved by a murderer should be explained and used in the exploration of his psyche. It cannot be gratuitous. Furthermore, the novel explores the life and psyche of an old lady, the landlady of our murderer, and here Ruth Rendell reaches a certain level of black humour when she shows the detailed picture of the decadence and dereliction of that old lady. Finally I will say that the book shows bluntly how such a criminal, absolutely unprofilable, can escape the police. The police is not in the know because people seem to satisfy themselves with easy and superficial explanations. It takes some time for the two black « friends » of the old lady to get the courage to go to the police and really start the chase. England sure isn't a police state and the lack of follow-up work on social cases or old people can lead to dramatic situations that might have been prevented. Dr Jacques COULARDEAU