After You Were Gone

Description

What happens to a family when a child goes missing? In a busy street market, Abbie lets go of six-year-old Sarah's hand. She isn't a bad mother, just exhausted. When she turns around, her daughter isn't there. Six years later, Abbie is in love and getting married. But her fragile peace is constantly threatened: not knowing what happened to Sarah is like living with a curse. Then she receives a phone call from an unknown number. A man claims to know what happened to Sarah, but if Abbie tells anyone or fails to follow his instructions, she'll never find out. How far will Abbie go to know the truth? Prize-winning and hugely popular author Vikki Wakefield turns her hand to the psychological thriller in this unputdownable novel that will disturb your dreams!

Vikki Wakefield writes fiction for adults and young adults. Her novels All I Ever Wanted, Friday Brown, Inbetween Days and Ballad for a Mad Girl have been shortlisted for numerous awards. This Is How We Change the Ending was a Book of the Year in the 2020 CBCA Awards. After You Were Gone, a psychological thriller, is her first novel for adults. She is working on her second one.

'Elegantly written and utterly chilling. A dark and twisting novel of psychological suspense that will have you turning pages and checking your locks.' * Emma Viskic, author of Those Who Perish * 'Gripping, propulsive, and unbearably tense - the best psychological thriller I've read in years.' * Mark Brandi, author of The Others * 'An original thriller full of empathy. Flawed and vulnerable, Abbie is so real. I was with her all the way.' * Sarah Bailey, author of The Housemate * 'An elegant, powerful and utterly compelling thriller. The best book I have read all year.' * Lucy Christopher, author of Release * 'After You Were Gone cleaves open ideas of friendship and family, revealing the complex inner workings of our closest relationships. In doing so, Wakefield achieves what all good crime writers aspire to do: she forces the reader to stress-test their own sense of morality. She looks you in the eye and asks what would you do if the unthinkable happened? What would you sacrifice? How far would you go? At once tense and atmospheric, After You Were Gone is also brilliantly plotted and populated with complex characters. An exciting new voice in Australian crime.' * J.P. Pomare, author of The Last Guests * 'Spooky, believable, compelling. I kept turning the pages hoping for a way out.' * Leah Swann, author of Sheerwater * 'Beautifully written and superbly unnerving, After You Were Gone is the very best kind of thriller: tender and wise as well as pulse-poundingly tense, with characters so real you want to linger with them even as you race through the pages, desperate to find out what happens. Absolutely wonderful, I could not have loved or admired it more.' * Anna Downes, author of The Safe Place * 'Through captivating prose and an intricately crafted plot, After You Were Gone explores the complexities of what it means to be a mother: the joy, the rage, the floundering-and the desperate, unquenchable love.' * Amy Suiter Clarke, author of Girl, 11 * '[A]n expertly crafted psychological thriller that reminded me of Adrian McKinty's breakthrough international bestseller The Chain in its need-to-know addictive propulsion...The ending felt just right.' * InDaily * '[S]atisfying and unpredictable...Wakefield delivers compulsive, heart-thumping suspense in spades.' * InDaily * 'This is how to write a psychological thriller; stylish prose in a warts-and-all tale...Wakefield makes a seamless transition into the adult genre.' * Herald Sun * '[Vikki Wakefield's] first foray into the realm of adult fiction has arrived in the form of a masterful psychological thriller...Fast paced, perfectly plotted and brilliantly conceived, this is a chilling tale of identity, judgement, loss, determination and complex relationship dynamics.' * ArtsHub * 'After You Were Gone is a pacey and engaging thriller...the characters are well-developed and rich in detail...This is one for the beach or a long flight when you need something entertaining to sink your teeth into.' * Courier * 'You'll be questioning every character, their motives and [their] memories...[A] great thriller.' * Australian * 'Wakefield creates nuanced and complex characters...[She] is brilliant at showing us how insidious the cult of perfect motherhood might be for a young single mum who is hardly capable of looking after herself, much less a child.' * Conversation * 'Chilling and laced with dark suspense.' * Australian Women's Weekly * 'Taut, fast-paced and tension-filled.' * Alpine Observer *