The Retreat – A Sample (Unabridged‪)‬

A missing child. A desperate mother. And a house full of secrets.

Two years ago, Julia lost her family in a tragic accident. Her husband drowned trying to save their daughter, Lily, in the river near their rural home. But the little girl’s body was never found - and Julia believes Lily is somehow still alive.

Alone and broke, Julia opens her house as a writers’ retreat. One of the first guests is Lucas, a horror novelist, who becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to Lily. But within days of his arrival, the peace of the retreat is shattered by a series of eerie events.

When Lucas’s investigation leads him and Julia into the woods, they discover a dark secret - a secret that someone will do anything to protect...

What really happened that day by the river? Why was Lily never found? And who, or what, is haunting the retreat?

From the best-selling author of Follow You Home and The Magpies comes his most terrifying novel yet.