The Shadow House
A Novel
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- 85,00 kr
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- 85,00 kr
Publisher Description
Extraordinarily tense and deliciously mysterious, Anna Downes's The Shadow House follows one woman's desperate journey to protect her children at any cost, in a remote place where not everything is as it seems.
A HOUSE WITH DEADLY SECRETS.
A MOTHER WHO'LL RISK EVERYTHING TO BRING THEM TO LIGHT.
Alex, a single mother-of-two, is determined to make a fresh start for her and her children. In an effort to escape her troubled past, she seeks refuge in a rural community. Pine Ridge is idyllic; the surrounding forests are beautiful and the locals welcoming. Mostly.
But Alex finds that she may have disturbed barely hidden secrets in her new home. As a chain of bizarre events is set off, events eerily familiar to those who have lived there for years, Alex realizes that she and her family might be in greater danger than ever before. And that the only way to protect them all is to confront the shadows lurking in Pine Ridge.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fleeing from yet another bad situation, single mother Alex, the protagonist of this gripping if flawed psychological thriller from Downes (The Safe Place), heads for Pine Ridge, a new development billed as an ecovillage, with her 14-year-old son, Ollie, and her eight-month-old daughter, Kara. Though Pine Ridge is a far cry from their city life, Alex feels instantly at home in the Australian countryside. Paying in cash, Alex rents a demo house model for three months, pleased to be warmly welcomed by Jenny, her helpful new neighbor, and other residents each seeking a better way of life. Almost immediately, odd things begin to happen: a dead bird is left in a box on the family's steps; eerie carvings appear on trees. Is there any truth to the tale of the Pine Ridge witch, or is there something more human at play threatening Alex and her children? The distinctive setting and well-drawn characters, especially Ollie, compensate for a convoluted plot that offers no hints of the principal characters' dramatic backstories until the big reveals at the end. Downes remains a writer to watch. 125,000-copy announced first printing.
