Discover new selections
$6.99 with 22 percent savings
Digital List Price: $8.99

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Sold by Amazon.com Services LLC.

Audiobook Price: $17.67

Save: $13.68 (77%)

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Ruth Rendell
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Live Flesh Kindle Edition

by Ruth Rendell (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 out of 5 stars 421 ratings
From a New York Times–bestselling author: A terrifying psychological thriller that dives deep into the mind of a sexual predator.

In a remote corner of London, a woman is walking her dog when a man grabs her from behind. She screams, and her attacker flees, escaping into a nearby house, where he finds another victim. Victor Jenner has a compulsion he does not understand—to grab women, to hurt them—and he also has a gun. When it goes off, grievously wounding a police officer, it marks the beginning of a long stretch in jail for Victor.
 
Released ten years later, Victor meets the young policeman he shot—and falls head over heels for the officer’s girlfriend. Back on the street, Victor is torn between the desire to live a better life and the knowledge that he will soon give in to his most evil yearnings.
 
The winner of three Edgar Awards, Ruth Rendell was one of the most celebrated thriller authors of the twentieth century. Live Flesh is “a superb work [and] a compelling psychological portrait” of a dark mind (Philadelphia Daily News).
Previous slide of product details
  1. Print length
    276 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller
  4. Publication date
    December 28, 2010
  5. File size
    6.4 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
Next slide of product details

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A superb work . . . a compelling psychological portrait . . . a helluva good novel.”—Philadelphia Daily News “Chillingly memorable fiction . . . Rendell is a master of her craft.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “Rendell specializes in coolly, even morbidly, detached tales of mayhem. The O. Henry-meets-Grand Guignol twists of her most characteristic work . . . feel like they’ve been thought up by someone with ice water in her veins.” —Salon.com

From the Inside Flap

After ten years in prison for shooting -- and permanently crippling -- a young policeman, Victor Jenner is released to a strange new world and told to make a new life for himself. It's hard to fill the days, but at least there's one blessing -- he was never convicted for all those rapes he committed. Then Victor meets David, the policeman he shot all those years ago, and David's beautiful girlfriend, Clare. And suddenly Victor's new life is starting to look an awful lot like the old one . . .

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00AG8GWTE
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller (December 28, 2010)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 28, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 6.4 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 276 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 out of 5 stars 421 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Ruth Rendell

Ruth Rendell

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Edgar Award–winning author Ruth Rendell (1930-2015) wrote more than seventy books and sold more than twenty million copies worldwide. A fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (London), she was the recipient of the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Crime Writers’ Association. Rendell’s award-winning novels include A Demon in My View (1976), A Dark-Adapted Eye (1987), and King Solomon’s Carpet (1991). Her popular crime stories featuring Chief Inspector Reginald Wexford were adapted into a long-running British television series (1987–2000) starring George Baker.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
421 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers
Write a customer review

Customers say

Customers find the book worth their time and praise the author as an incredibly gifted writer. One customer particularly appreciates the descriptive prose that flows beautifully throughout the story.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Select to learn more

6 customers mention "Value for time"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the book worth their time, with one comparing it to Ruth Rendell's work.

"...A fantastic read." Read more

"Good read. Like most of her books, the introduction is slow and it is not until one is well into the book that the pace increases...." Read more

"Very much Ruth Rendell .I always like the way she writes." Read more

"Good, but to much suspense, not enough action." Read more

3 customers mention "Writer quality"3 positive0 negative

Customers praise the author's writing, with one noting how the descriptive prose flows beautifully throughout the story.

"Ruth Rendell was an incredibly gifted writer. I do not say that lightly...." Read more

"Rendell is always touted as the best living mystery writer. She's one of the best writers, period...." Read more

"...And as with many British writers, the descriptive prose accompanying the story line flows beautifully...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Tom Richardson
    5.0 out of 5 stars Ruth Rendell = Best of the Best
    Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Ruth Rendell was an incredibly gifted writer. I do not say that lightly. She knew the art of making horror, fear, and psychological terror leap off the page into your head. She mastered the use of varied perspectives to accomplish this. She knew how to venture into the souls of cops and villains alike, to make us see what they saw, and to feel what they felt. A true master at her craft.
    One person found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • C. Ann
    4.0 out of 5 stars A GOOD READ
    Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    An original. The characters are well drawn, especially Victor. The reasons I did not give it 5 stars are that I thought it unbelievable that David and Clare were so immediately welcoming and did nothing to protect themselves, and I thought the ending a bit abrupt. That being said I recommend this for fans of this genre.
    8 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Deborah Morris
    5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book
    Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Consider that Pedro Almodovar moved this to Spain and made a movie of it ... you will start to get some idea of how very strange and wonderful it is. A fantastic read.
    5 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • M. J. Post
    3.0 out of 5 stars Not my favorite Ruth Rendell book.
    Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    I've read 8 or 10 Rendell/Barbara Vine books and this might be my least favorite. I hated the main character, Victor Jenner, but he's intended to be unlikable I know. The book reminded me a lot of Dreiser's An American Tragedy.
    3 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • the thing
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good read. Like most of her books
    Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Good read. Like most of her books, the introduction is slow and it is not until one is well into the book that the pace increases. The ending has many twists and turns. Well worth the time.
    9 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • D
    5.0 out of 5 stars Live Flesh
    Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    What a sad book. Tragedy unbounded. From the first few pages, the reader hopes for respite and repose. But it isn't until the final page that all in question is made clear. Dear Ruth, This one is too much and not for the faint hearted.
    5 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Dave Goldberg
    5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
    Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2000
    Verified Purchase
    Rendell is always touted as the best living mystery writer. She's one of the best writers, period. An amazing display of getting into the delusionary mind of a criminal and making him simultaneously sympathetic.
    If only Hitchcock were alive to film this.
    8 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • S. Widtfeldt
    4.0 out of 5 stars Rendell Does Creepy and Crazy Well
    Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Ruth Rendell writes psychological crime novels from inside the mind of the madman better than any current writer that I have read. And as with many British writers, the descriptive prose accompanying the story line flows beautifully. I'm about to read my fifth Rendell novel, and have already chosen the sixth.
    4 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
  • B. J. Bray
    4.0 out of 5 stars Up to her usual standard
    Reviewed in Australia on July 6, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    A Ruth Rendell novel is always good read, never ever disappointed by her novels.
    Report
  • Betty
    5.0 out of 5 stars englische Krimis
    Reviewed in Germany on April 20, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Bin ein Fan von Ruth Rendell! Die älteren Ausgaben sind genauso spannend zu lesen wie die leider seltener werdenden Neuerscheinungen. Im englischen Original für mich immer ein besonderes Lesevergnügen.
    Report
  • Dolce98
    5.0 out of 5 stars 帯も付いて、綺麗で使用感もなく大満足です。
    Reviewed in Japan on October 13, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    この作家の作品を全て読破する予定ですが、図書館に所蔵されてませんでした。
    Report
  • Geoff Dufour
    5.0 out of 5 stars As riveting as it is disturbing
    Reviewed in Canada on January 24, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Ms. Rendell, too clearly and vividly for comfort at times, portrays the world as seen by Victor, a mentally disturbed young man recently released from prison. Going into much greater detail would be to risk spoiling a splendid read. There are moments where you, in a self congratulatory glow, will have determined you have divined the plot and have foreseen the ending. You’ll be wrong. More than once. In retrospect, you’ll see that the superbly developed characters could do no other than as Ms. Rendell relates. It is a fine, fine book worthy of a slow and attentive read.
    Report
  • Bargain Hunter
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 24, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Couldn’t put this book down. What a twisted plot.
    I had forgotten how clever Ruth Rendell is . A page turner
    Report

Report an issue


Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report