AustLit

'Some years ago, a crime-writing friend of mine was at a writer’s festival with Lee Child. After a few drinks, my friend asked Child how he’d gone about preparing to write his Jack Reacher novels. Child’s reply was something along the lines of not putting pen to paper before he’d spent six months reading all of the successful crime novels he could find, and before parsing out exactly what made them popular with readers. Once this was done, he sat down to write. The rest, of course, is history.' (Introduction)

'After his gripping yet slow-burning debut, Call Me Evie, J. P. Pomare is back with another compelling thriller – and it’s just as dread-filled. Told through dual perspectives, In the Clearing follows Freya, a wealthy single mother who leads a routine life in a small town, and Amy, a teenage girl born and raised in The Clearing, a secret community with many parallels to the notorious 1960s Victorian cult The Family. The two narratives gradually intertwine to reveal something much bigger – nefarious connections that span decades and leave a shadow hanging over the town.' (Introduction)