Blood

From the much-loved author of Shadowboxing comes a stunning debut novel in the spirit of Honey Brown and Chris Womersley.

From the moment he saw her, wrapped in a blanket at the hospital, Jesse knew that he'd be the one to look after his little sister, Rachel. Mum was always on the move and always bringing home trouble.

When his mum's appetite for destruction leads the little family into the arms of Ray Crow, beneath the charm and charisma, Jesse sees the brooding violence and knows that, this time, the trouble is real.

But Jesse's just a kid and even as he tries to save his sister, he makes a fatal error that exposes them to the kind of danger he has sworn to protect Rachel from. As their little world is torn to pieces, the children learn that, when you are lost and alone, the only thing you can trust is what's in your blood.

Blood is an epic moral fable, a gothic odyssey set on the back roads of Australia. In understated prose touched with poetry, it finds tenderness in a world without sanctuary and the strength of innocence amidst violence and genuine evil.