Author(s): Sandy McCutcheon

Thriller

The first of September was a special day for schoolchildren in Beslan, traditionally celebrated as the "Day of Knowledge". But after September 2004 the day would be remembered for all the wrong reasons, when a group of terrorists took hostages at Beslan's School Number One. Real-life headlines have given Sandy McCutcheon the substance of a plot that wrestles with information and disinformation in a masterful telling of the betrayals of ordinary people caught in political conflict. Fatima, Tatyana, Madina, Zoia, Katya and Alina (mothers of children killed in the school siege) have come together to plan a unique memorial for the dead hostages. But in a gripping role-reversal, they have become the hostage-takers, and a group of the terrorists are at their mercy. As they come face to face with their arch enemies, each black widow is forced to confront her own demons. What is justice? What price revenge? What price truth? Black Widow ratchets up the unbearable tension for an explosive showdown. A taut and gripping psychological thriller, Black Widow is an astonishing achievement. First published 2006.