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About Under the Skin

Hailed as "original and unsettling, an Animal Farm for the new century" ( Wall Street Journal ), this debut novel lingers long after the last page has been turned. A "fascinating psychological thriller" ( Baltimore Sun ), this entrancing novel introduces Isserley, a female driver who scouts the Scottish highlands for male hitchhikers with big muscles. She herself is tiny—like a kid peering up over the steering wheel. Scarred and awkward, yet strangely erotic and threatening, Isserley listens to her passengers as they open up to her, revealing clues about who might miss them should they disappear—and then she strikes. What happens to her victims next is only part of a terrifying reality. At once humane and horrifying, Under the Skin takes us on a heart-thumping ride through dangerous territory: our own moral instincts and the boundaries of compassion. A grotesque and comical allegory and a surreal representation of contemporary society run amok, Under the Skin was internationally received as the arrival of an exciting talent, rich and assured.