The Cloud of Unknowing - Paperback

by Thomas H. Cook (Author)

David Sears grew up in the shadow of his brilliant sister, Diana, convinced by their father that she would accomplish great things. Instead, she married and had a son, Jason, who--like David and Diana's father--is schizophrenic. Her husband, Mark, a geneticist, never made peace with Jason's condition. Perhaps this is why Diana will not accept the authorities' conclusion that Jason's drowning death was accidental. Or perhaps Diana is going mad. As she builds a case against her husband and the seductive qualities of her manic energy become impossible to ignore, David finds himself afraid for his own family's safety. In The Cloud of Unknowing, Cook explores the power of blood and family mythology.

Front Jacket

David Sears grew up in the shadow of his brilliant younger sister, Diana, convinced by their father that she would accomplish great things. Instead, she married and had a son, Jason, who like David and Diana s father is schizophrenic. Her husband, Mark, a geneticist, never made peace with Jason s condition.
Perhaps this is why, when Jason drowns, Diana will not accept the authorities conclusion that his death was accidental. Or perhaps Diana is going mad. She begins to send David faxes and e-mails about ancient murders, driven by her growing belief that the earth is Gaia, a living witness to her son s murder who could give evidence in the case she is building against her husband. David soon fears for his own family s safety as the seductive qualities of Diana s manic energy become impossible to ignore.
In The Cloud of Unknowing, Thomas H. Cook explores the devastating power of blood and family mythology."

Back Jacket

[Diana s] inexorable descent into mania, narrated by her brother Dave, is as gripping as the mystery itself. A- Entertainment Weekly

David Sears grew up in the shadow of his brilliant sister, Diana, told by their schizophrenic father that she would accomplish great things. But when she becomes convinced that her husband murdered their drowned son, David doesn t know what to believe. Has their family history of mental illness finally caught up with her? Or could Diana be on to the truth? In The Cloud of Unknowing, Cook explores the power of blood and family mythology.
"What s at stake isn t so much the resolution of a mystery as the integrity of a family." Time Out New York

"So spare and precise, it feels as if it has been chiseled in stone with something like a surgical instrument." Joyce Carol Oates

Thomas H. Cook is the author of nineteen novels and two works of nonfiction. He has been nominated for the Edgar Award seven times in five different categories, including Best Novel for Red Leaves, which was also nominated for a Barry and a Duncan Lawrie Dagger. His novel The Chatham School Affair won the Edgar for Best Novel. He lives in New York City and Cape Cod.
An Otto Penzler Book"

Author Biography

Thomas H. Cook is the author of nineteen novels and two works of nonfiction. He has been nominated for the Edgar Award seven times in five different categories, including Best Novel for Red Leaves, which was also nominated for a Barry and a Duncan Lawrie Dagger. His novel The Chatham School Affair won the Edgar for Best Novel. He lives in New York City and Cape Cod.