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This book is a wild, scary ride down a long hall filled with mirrored madness.

Greta is a young Swedish wife vacationing with her handsome husband and adorable daughter. They take a short afternoon boat ride to a nearby island. Then Alex and little Smilla disappear over a hill and never return. So Greta returns to the mainland and notifies the police, right?

No, she returns to the mainland to retrieve her cellphone. When her calls to Alex go unanswered, she goes to sleep. When she finally makes it to the police station, the result is shocking to us, but exactly what Greta expected. Because Greta's life is filled with mysteries.

What is it about Scandinavians that we find so fascinating? With the predominance of blonde hair and blue eyes, glowing complexions, and slender, athletic figures they look like children from the Dawn of Time. True, their homelands are cold and barren, but their society is well-ordered and logical. After centuries of producing some of the most fearsome warriors in human history, they've denounced violence in favor of peace, equality, and fairness.

But violence is hard to eradicate and there's plenty of it in this story. There's the careless emotional abuse of faithless spouses, the mindless brutality of angry teens, and the measured, deliberate cruelties meted out by a charismatic sadist. And, as always, violence begets violence as surely as night follows day.

The Scandinavians have also proudly promoted gender equality, but equal education and professional opportunities can't erase the basic vulnerability of women to abuse. And so this book is partly an examination of why some woman are more vulnerable than others. The narrator during most of the book, Greta is a young woman whose family tragedies have left her uncertain and submissive. Desperate for the affection she feels was denied her, she's an easy target.

But what about her "rival" who picks up the narrative? We never learn what in her life made her agree to become a physical and emotional prisoner. Could ANY woman be tricked into an abusive relationship? Is it just a matter of meeting the right sociopath?

It's also a book about the mother/daughter relationship, which seems unbreakable no matter how rocky it looks or feels. Motherhood (especially of a daughter) makes a woman more vulnerable to abuse, but it can also give her the courage to do what she has to do to get free of an abusive relationship. One of the women in this book did just that and has no regrets. One is determined to free herself and the fate of the third remains in doubt.

I don't normally like "psychological thrillers" and it's impossible to say why this one grabbed me. All I know is that I started reading it and when I finished it, I realized that I had left my chair four times - twice to get more tea and twice to visit the bathroom. The first few chapters were confusing, but once I got into the story, I couldn't stop reading.

It could be called melodramatic, but I'd argue with someone who denounced it as unbelievable. It's important to remember that the author is trying to get inside the mind of an emotionally fragile individual. Greta bears the scars of childhood trauma and her instability has been heightened by the clever manipulation of the person who now controls her life. It's impossible to demonstrate irrational fears and obsessions WITHOUT being over-the-top dramatic.

So could it happen? I'm reminded of an incident several years ago when a celebrity marriage imploded and there were rumors of violence. Amidst the staunch denials on both sides, one of the wife's countrymen commented admiringly, "She fought back like a brave Swedish girl." Sounds like the wild Viking blood lives on.