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Ratings: ★★★★☆ (4.1/5)
Genre: Crime Fiction, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Mystery

Book Review:
James Hadley Chase was a master of suspense, and ''One Bright Summer Morning'' demonstrates his ability to create tension from the most ordinary of situations. It's a novel that starts quietly and builds to a crescendo of terror, leaving readers breathless.

The premise is simple but effective. Victor Dermott is a successful playwright who rents an isolated ranch-house in the Nevada Desert. He's looking for peace, quiet, and a place to work. For two months, he finds it. The desert is beautiful, the isolation is restful, and his work is going well.

Then, one bright summer morning, everything changes.

Dermott wakes up to find his servant gone, his dog gone, his guns gone. The telephone is dead. And somewhere during his walk around the estate, he stepped in a puddle of blood.

What follows is a nightmare of suspense. Dermott is alone, trapped, and terrified. He doesn't know what's happening, who's responsible, or what they want. All he knows is that he's in danger, and there's no one to help him.

Chase's prose is lean and mean, perfectly suited to the genre. He creates an atmosphere of paranoia and dread, using the isolation of the desert setting to maximum effect. The tension builds slowly but inexorably, with each new revelation ratcheting up the stakes.

The Evening Standard praised the novel's ''agonising tension sustained throughout a first-rate story.'' That's an accurate assessment. Chase keeps readers on edge from the first page to the last.

For fans of Chase, ''One Bright Summer Morning'' is a solid entry in his extensive bibliography. It's not his most famous work, but it's a gripping thriller that showcases his skills. For newcomers, it's a good introduction to his work—a tense, fast-paced read that will keep you guessing until the end.

Recommended for anyone who loves psychological suspense, isolated settings, and stories of ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances.