Deep in the Forest (Erina Reddan, Pantera)

The Trenthen family’s revered reputation in Stone Lake crumbles when a damaging bushfire uncovers an item that appears to belong to Charli, a bookbinder and the family’s last surviving member, right where the fire started—leading many in the town to believe she caused the blaze. While she’s officially exonerated, not everyone believes the truth, and so she dreams of a new future: studying with a world-renowned bookbinder in Florence. Charli’s last job before leaving town is creating a visual history of the Sanctuary’s transformation from a cult-like local refuge to a success story in substance abuse recovery. Charli’s work moves her into the orbit of Zack, who is part of the Sanctuary’s higher echelons and somebody who stirs her long-dormant feelings of safety and desire. When Charli finds a newborn’s lifeless body in the frozen lake between her house and the Sanctuary, it sets the suspicious eyes of Stone Lake’s police force back onto her, keeping her in town and abruptly laying waste to her plans. Now, finding out what happened to the baby is the only way to free herself. Charli is an enigmatic character who hides her pain at her mother’s recent death and keeps her secrets hidden even from readers. Erina Reddan’s intimate writing, first seen in her debut, The Serpent’s Skin, lures readers into a heady, syrupy haze. Deep in the Forest is a simmering slow burn of a thriller for those who enjoy the grit and determination in Loraine Peck’s The Second Son or the deep character immersion of Jacqueline Bublitz’s Before You Knew My Name.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Fiona Hardy is a children’s author and a bookseller at Readings. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

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