Well I guess the 13th is as fitting a day as any (except maybe the winter solstice) to read this cover to cover.

On the one hand it’s so predictable it hurts: there’s nothing here I hadn’t seen before in terms of plot beats (even tho I rarely engage with horror in any medium). On the other, it works because of its needle-sharp focus on tragic characters and their baggage, and its evocation of a remote, fading township abandoned by almost everyone with a duty to care about it.

I was engaged in spite of myself (hence reading it in one absorbed day), altho it’s probably one for the literary thrillseeker / occasional horror tourist rather than a true genre aficionado.

Full review

I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Content note: pet deaths ( )

Read for judging in Australian Shadows Awards

Utterly gripping. Just like the work of Transit Lounge stable mates Jane Rawson and A S Patric, Lois Murphy’s debut novel Soon defies genre categorisation. Despite containing fantastical story elements, it feels uncommonly gritty and grounded. Murphy’s character development and evocation of both the natural environment and small town setting is first class — a reader cannot help but become invested in their plight. Read full review >> ( )