This is the story of Philip Winter who, acquitted of rape, has still had his life turned upside down so disappears. The tale also examines a group of animal rights activists, and the lengths they will go to to achieve their aim.This was a fairly enjoyable read, it passed the time, and was interesting, but it was nothing special. The book was well written, and characters such as the illiterate youth, Denis, did gain my sympathy, but I suppose I just wasn't pulled along enough by the story.The book started off very confusing, as it focussed on the tales of a variety of individuals, one after another, who were seemingly unconnected, but obviously later on their lives became intertwined. This made the book quite hard to get into, as I just became intrigued by one person's story, before the next chapter moved on to somebody else.Also, this book wasn't really what I would class as a crime book as such - it did have some elements of mystery, in particular surrounding the ulterior motives of the leader of the animal rights group, Tessa, but that was about it. While I have enjoyed psychological mysteries in the past, such as when Ruth Rendell writes as Barbara Vine, this book just didn't really hit the spot for me. ( )