Author(s): Rae Cairns

Thriller

Shortlisted for the 2021 Ned Kelly Awards for Best Debut Crime Fiction

A fast-paced, explosive thriller from an electrifying new voice

She's protected them from the truth. Can she save them from her past?

Sarah Calhoun is a regular Sydney soccer mum, but she's keeping terrifying secrets from everyone she loves . . . and her past is about to catch up with her. When two men from Northern Ireland hunt her down, she's forced to return to Belfast to testify at a murder trial.

Caught in the crossfire of an obsessive policeman, driven by a disturbing past, and a brutal IRA executioner, Sarah faces an impossible choice: lie and allow a killer to run free, or tell the truth and place her children in the line of fire.

With her family and innocent people at risk, Sarah must find the courage to fight for the truth. But righting the wrongs of the past just might cost her everything . . .

This taut, plot-fuelled thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat to its gripping finale.'Show me a soldier who would fight harder than a mother to save her son.'

PRAISE

'Past and present collide on and off the page in this explosive debut . . . a pacy, plot-driven thriller that stands up against some of the best in the genre.' Sunday Telegraph