Like many writers of mysteries, Banks seems far more interested in her suspenseful plot and some of the moral and philosophical issues it raises than she is in developing truly rich characters. Although some of the characters suffer from internal conflicts (Roger, Melusine, Monsieur Serpe), Banks does not really draw the reader inside these characters so he or she is tempted to say, "Yes, I recognize that problem; I've been in that situation too." Her characters make decisions, take steps, encounter obstacles, but they do not really grow in ways that make us sympathize with them as humans—as people like us. Roger's mother, his two sisters, the psychologist Roger talks to at his school back home in England, even Roger's father are really quite flat as characters go. They provide bits of information, help move the plot along, and accompany Roger when...