Just how far would a mother go to protect her children? Sarah Calhoun lives with three kids in Sydney. After finishing her social work degree, she’d worked in Belfast, helping youths on both sides of The Troubles, but fled the country after her then fiance, Michael McNaulty and his brother, Daniel – an IRA gunman – were involved in the death of a youth she was trying to help. She always kept the reason for her exit secret from her family.
As the novel begins, Sarah’s ex-husband, Evan, has just permitted their son, Riley, to go to a soccer camp in Dublin. Sarah is terrified for his safety, but eventually allows him to go. She’s then visited by a Northern Ireland policeman, Alec Stone, wanting her to return to Belfast to give evidence in a murder trial against Daniel McNaulty. Intriguingly, she receives a ticket to Belfast from McNaulty himself, reinforced with threats. He wants her to testify: if she lies and he’s acquitted, her family lives; if she tells the truth and he’s convicted, they all die.
Complicating matters further, Sarah is estranged from her father, Max, but convinces him to help keep Riley safe. Siobhan, Riley’s new girlfriend, rings alarm bells. Sarah’s certain something’s not right, but only alienates Riley. She’s alternately hounded by, and attracted to, Alec Stone, and continually threatened by Daniel McNaulty. She trusts no-one but herself.
The success of thrillers is relative to a compelling narrative drive which, in turn, relates to continually raising the stakes … and they couldn’t be higher. Sarah has the will to save her children, but does she have the capacity?
More twists and turns than a leprechaun’s knotty shillelagh.
Reviewed by Bob Moore
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rae Cairns writes crime with heart: thrillers featuring everyday people facing extraordinary circumstances. Her debut novel The Good Mother was shortlisted for Best Debut Crime Fiction in the 2021 Ned Kelly Awards and longlisted for the 2021 Sisters in Crime Davitt Awards. It draws on her background as a youth worker in Northern Ireland during the final years of ‘The Troubles’.
Dying to Know, Rae’s second novel, is a standalone Sydney based thriller and centres around a woman’s determination to uncover what happened to her missing sister.
Rae has also co-managed a crisis refuge for street children, worked as Program Director for the Sydney Olympic Youth Camp and holds a degree in Performing Arts.
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