Make Death Love Me

An assured, satisfying, standalone thriller from crime supremo Rendell about a dull bank manager who fantasises about a different life and sees an opportunity to achieve it when his branch is robbed. It’s the characters that make this, defiant bank teller Joyce, somewhat hapless robbers Marty and Nigel, and bank manager Alan. All 4 are believable and engaging, none of them perfect but all with enough that is sympathetic about them to make the reader really care what happens. The book was published in 1979 and the depressing backdrop of 70s Britain, filled with shallow dinner parties, casual racism and the shadow of the IRA is perfect for this bleak tale of crime, punishment and redemption. It’s an elegantly told, suspenseful tale, show more with no bloat at all in its 200-odd pages. I thoroughly enjoyed it. show less

When a small British bank is robbed, the manager escapes with some of the money, because he had been fondling it in his office. The teller is kidnapped by the robbers. We follow the manager as he attempts to begin a new life, and the robbers and teller as they figure out what to do. It's not really a mystery in that we don't have anyone trying to solve the crime; we just follow the characters as they live out the inevitable consequences of their decisions.

This is a good thriller. It's the story of Alan Groombridge, bank manager, who dreams of escaping with some of the bank's money and changing his boring life to be free to do as he pleases.

A bank robbery gives Alan the opportunity to live his dreams for a while, until his nightmare really begins.....

Alan Groombridge, a bank manager who dislikes his job and his family life, dreams of robbing the bank one day to escape to a new life, for just one year.
One day the bank is robbed, and both manager and cashier disappear. The fantasy becomes a nightmare... A good thriller.

Audiobook

La pequeña agencia bancaria de Childon tenía sólo dos empleados: Alan Groombidge, el contable de treinta y ocho años al que por deferencia llamaban director; y Joyce, una joven cajera que solía comer en un pub cercano cuando a esa hora cerraban la oficina. Era en alguno de esos momentos de soledad cuando Alan, después de llenar con fajos de billetes sus bolsillos, se entregaba a la fantasía de pensar en lo que podría hacer con el dinero: un sueño que lo llevaba lejos de una esposa, dos hijos y una suegra a los que sólo le unía la rutina doméstica. Treinta mil libras podían costearle un año de independencia, pero Alan -no por lealtad al banco sino por miedo a ser descubierto- nunca las cogería...