Half Moon Bay (31 page)

BOOK: Half Moon Bay

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

As usual an army of people have answered the call to bring
Half Moon Bay
to life. This story has been gestating for over seven years and while the core values of the book are still there – a sister’s love, betrayal and the price of honour – the characters have grown with each new telling.

Anne Harth provided insightful advice on the very first draft. Her wide-angle perspective was invaluable. The RWA contests judges delivered tough love that helped me hone my writing skills when I was just starting out on this journey.

A special thanks to Ali Watts for not only believing in
Half Moon Bay
, but for again encouraging me to dig deeper into my characters, and for guiding me into more emotional territory. You bring out the best in my writing. Thanks to Saskia Adams for sharpening the focus of the story with her patient editing skills.

Thanks to Louise Ryan, Chantelle Sturt and the rest of the Penguin Australia team for so warmly welcoming me. It’s a pleasure working with you all. Thanks also to my agent, Clare Foster. Both your wry humour and timely advice are very much appreciated.

An enormous thank you goes to Leonard Winkler for giving up precious family time to show me photos, maps and film footage of Kandahar and for sharing memories of his tours of duty. It helped to bring authenticity to my settings with close-ups of everyday life in a war zone. My thanks to Ross Wakem for confirming details of army ranks and ensuring Nicholas Lawson had a suitable career. Any mistakes on the military side are mine alone.

Half Moon Bay is a small coastal town I’ve created somewhere around Yamba and Angourie, places dear to my heart. It also draws much from the people of Currumbin Beach, where I spent so many carefree years growing up.

Thanks goes, as always, to my sister, Bron, not just for her advice on characters and plot, but for providing endless support from day one.

And finally to Graham – the things you bring to my life are too many to list, but most importantly you make me laugh, even after all these years.

ALSO BY HELENE YOUNG

Burning Lies

Lies, all lies. It didn’t matter how attractive he might be.
She didn’t really know this man . . . He was living
a lie and she didn’t know why.

Kaitlyn Scott is searching for the truth about her husband’s death, even if that means revisiting the most painful day of her life. But what she uncovers is a criminal willing to stop at nothing to keep his secret.

Ryan O’Donnell, an enigmatic undercover cop, is investigating arson attacks when he is drawn into Kaitlyn’s world. He tries to fight his attraction to her, hoping the case might put his own demons to rest, but it only threatens to push him over the edge.

With Kaitlyn and Ryan on a collision course, the arsonist seizes the chance to settle some old scores. As the Atherton Tableland burns, the three of them are caught in a fiery dance of danger and desire, and not everyone will come out alive.

An explosive story of peril and passion
by a multi-award-winning Australian author.

‘
A brilliant novel from an Australian author
right at the top of her game.’
Good Reads

‘Plenty of action, sizzling romance and
page-turning suspense.’
Book’d Out

MICHAEL JOSEPH

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First published by Penguin Group (Australia), 2013

The moral right of the author has been asserted

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ISBN: 978-0-85797-079-4