
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, September 25, 1993                   TAG: 9309250029
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Reviewed by NEIL HARVEY
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

TARTT'S DEBUT IS ENGROSSING

Donna Tartt's "The Secret History," just released in paperback, is a tense, cold, psychological thriller that hooks you with the very first sentence and eventually keeps you up until all hours trying to get to the end. It's one of those books you become completely engrossed in for about two or three days and then can't wait to share with somebody else.

The dark story involves a strange clique of bizarre, rich-kid Latin students at an exclusive Northeastern college who plot to kill one of their own. After the murder, the narrator, who's the newest member of the group and the closest thing to an innocent this story has, watches as his new "friends" disintegrate under the weight of guilt (or lack thereof). Slowly, it becomes apparent to him that there's a lot more going on inside this group - a group he has, in the most dire way, made himself a part of.

Violence is kept to an extreme minimum (the murder takes place between the first and second parts). Shakespeare and Kafka throw shadows on every page. This isn't your typical bestseller, but at heart, "The Secret History" is basically a high-brow John Grisham novel with a lot more style. Tartt maneuvers both her red herrings and her McGuffin with the deftness of Elmore Leonard.

Donna Tartt sweated over her debut novel for more than eight years. I sincerely hope she writes her next one a little more quickly.

\ "The Secret History."

By Donna Tartt. Ivy Books. $6.99 (paper).

\ Neil Harvey lives in Blacksburg.

by CNB