Through the Cracks (26 page)

It’s only by chance that Trudy and Bruce Harrison notice the isolated Ocean View gallery on their way home. It’s not listed on any tourist pamphlet. There are no other visitors. Within the maze of rooms the couple begins to feel uneasy.

And they are right to. The next few hours will rip them from their safe, comfortable existence forever.

Bruce and Trudy escape from the gallery, bruised and brutalised. But a man is dead. Was someone else there that day? Did the attack even happen the way they remember it? Their doubts grow until they can no longer trust anyone – not even each other.

There is no return from the dark places their fear will take them. Thrilling, stylish and strikingly atmospheric,
After the Darkness
is an extraordinary psychological suspense.

‘Achingly powerful.’
Australian Women’s Weekly

‘Excellent.’
Sun Herald

‘Enough twists and turns, mystery and gruesome touches to keep all psychological fans satisfied.’
Weekly Times

Rebecca Toyer and Zach Kincaid each live on the outskirts of town, but come from very different sides of the tracks. When Zach’s wealthy mother goes missing, Rebecca – the truckie’s daughter – is implicated in her disappearance. In the weeks that follow, Rebecca and Zach are drawn into a treacherous, adult world. Eager to please, Rebecca finds herself in danger of living up to the schoolyard taunts she so hates, while Zach channels his feelings through the sights of his gun.

In the fading summer light, grudges are nursed and tempers fray, and as old lies unravel it seems nobody can be relied on. But beyond the fallout, the hard lessons in love and betrayal have not been wasted. Rebecca and Zach realise that judgements can be flawed – and that trust is better earnt than given.

Original, unsettling and compelling,
The Good Daughter
is the much-anticipated second novel from Honey Brown.

‘A force to be reckoned with . . . [Brown is] a gifted novelist and a natural writer, her style subtle, elliptical and spare. There’s something shatteringly archetypal about
The Good Daughter
, as though Brown has somehow hit an artery in the soul. It recalls songs, stories, movies, novels and writers from both Australia and the US, from Annie Proulx and Cormac McCarthy to Kenneth Cook’s classic
Wake in Fright
.’
Sydney Morning Herald

‘A thrilling read – one that captures the brutal essence of Australian small-town life, in which characters shift along a sliding moral scale. Honey Brown’s writing carries the same dark, atmospheric weight of Sonya Hartnett’s books, with an authenticity that will resonate with teenage as well as adult readers, particularly fans of crime fiction.’
Bookseller+Publisher

Shannon and Rohan Scott have retreated to their family’s cabin in the Australian bush to escape a virus-ravaged world. After months of isolation, Shannon imagines there’s nothing he doesn’t know about his older brother, or himself – until a stranger slips under their late-night watch and past their loaded guns.

Reluctantly the brothers take the young woman into their fold, and the dynamic within the cabin shifts. Possessiveness takes hold, loyalties are split, and trust is shattered. Before long, all three find themselves locked into a very different battle for survival.

Daring, stylish and sexy,
Red Queen
is a psychological thriller that will leave you breathless.

‘Riveting, atmospheric and tautly written,
Red Queen
is a remarkable debut.’
Michael Robotham

‘These characters are superbly drawn and Brown’s manipulation of her stylish, erotic, unusual cinematic story firmly places this novel into the welcome league of must-reads.
Courier-Mail

‘HM Brown’s
Red Queen
is a cracker. There’s a good chance you may miss your train or bus stop, or show up to work with Vuitton-like bags beneath your eyes from a sleepless night trying to race to the last page.’
Vogue