Halfway House: The nerve-shatteringly tense, searingly funny new thriller from the author of Netflix hit, THE CRY - Softcover

FitzGerald, Helen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1914585704 ISBN 13: 9781914585708

Publisher: Orenda Books, 2024

Synopsis

On her first shift at an Edinburgh halfway house for violent offenders, a young woman is taken hostage … and that's just the beginning… The twisty, shocking, darkly funny thriller by award-winning author Helen FitzGerald.
 
'A new novel from Helen Fitzgerald is always a major event … magnificent' Mark Billingham
 
‘Outrageous, hilarious and dark as hell – this is Helen FitzGerald on absolute top form’ Doug Johnstone
 
‘[Lou] is irresistible and very funny … The set-up is fascinating, the narrative is both fast-moving and convincing’ Literary Review
 
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They’re the housemates from Hell…

When her disastrous Australian love affair ends, Lou O’Dowd heads to Edinburgh for a fresh start, moving in with her cousin, and preparing for the only job she can find … working at a halfway house for very high-risk offenders.

Two killers, a celebrity paedophile and a paranoid coke dealer – all out on parole and all sharing their outwardly elegant Edinburgh townhouse with rookie night-worker Lou…

And instead of finding some meaning and purpose to her life, she finds herself trapped in a terrifying game of cat and mouse where she stands to lose everything – including her life.

Slick, darkly funny and nerve-janglingly tense, Halfway House is both a breathtaking thriller and an unapologetic reminder never to corner a desperate woman…
 
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‘Tense, claustrophobic and laugh-out-loud funny … an amazingly talented writer’ Michael Wood
 
‘A genius combination of horror, humour and humanity' B M Carroll
 
Praise for Helen FitzGerald
 
**Shortlisted for Theakston Crime Novel of the Year**
 
'Sharp, shocking and savagely funny’ Chris Whitaker
 
‘Dark, dark, deliciously dark' Amanda Jennings
 
'Wickedly funny, breath-stealingly tense and utterly chilling' Miranda Dickinson
 
'The main character is one of the most extraordinary you'll meet between the pages of a book' Ian Rankin
'Sublime' Guardian
'A dark, comic masterpiece' Mark Edwards
'Urgent, angry, absolutely terrifying’ Erin Kelly
'Tantalisingly powerful' The Times
'The classic thriller gets a hell of a twist' Heat
'FitzGerald writes like a more focused Irvine Welsh or a less misogynist Philip Roth' Daily Telegraph
'Domestic life is rarely served up quite so dark as this’ Sun

About this title

About the Author

Helen FitzGerald is the bestselling author of ten adult and young adult thrillers, including The Donor (2011) and The Cry (2013), which was longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and adapted for a major BBC drama. Her 2019 dark-comedy thriller Worst Case Scenario was a Book of the Year in the Literary Review, Herald Scotland, Guardian and Daily Telegraph, shortlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and won the CrimeFest Last Laugh Award. Her latest title Ash Mountain was published in 2020. Helen worked as a criminal justice social worker for over fifteen years. She grew up in Victoria, Australia, and now lives in Glasgow with her husband. Follow Helen on Twitter @FitzHelen.

Edition details

• Publisher: Orenda Books
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1914585704
• ISBN 13: 9781914585708
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 284