'Mandy Beaumont’s debut novel, The Furies, was unrelentingly intense in its depictions of self-hatred, violence, rape and induced abortion. Her latest novel, The Thrill of It, is a more controlled and conventional excursion into male violence against women. It is just as serious in its exposure of misogyny. But it has a stronger narrative, with episodes of relief from its scenes of debasement.' (Introduction)