IN MANY ways Saturday, February 15, 2003, was just an ordinary day for neurosurgeon Henry Perowne – he would be playing squash, visiting his elderly mother, shopping and watching his son rehearse with his band. But from the start the day s pleasures seem

IN MANY ways Saturday, February 15, 2003, was just an ordinary day for neurosurgeon Henry Perowne - he would be playing squash, visiting his elderly mother, shopping and watching his son rehearse with his band.

But from the start the day's pleasures seemed tinged with menace and foreboding which only increased when Henry was involved in a minor traffic accident with the sinister Baxter, a man who was obviously unbalanced and violent.

Even his squash game has a sinister element and when Baxter appears at Perowne's house to disrupt and challenge the family, the day threatens to spin completely out of control. Perowne's neatly-controlled life cannot stand forever against the tumult of the outside world.

Ian McEwan excels at quiet detail. Here he takes one man, in one day, and throws into relief the issues that confront us all.

Thanks to Ottakar's of Stevenage 4/5