About the Book:

Mother’s intuition or a deadly guilty conscience? A woman races against time to find her son in this tense and twisty thriller by the Top Ten bestselling author of The Wrong Woman.

As the third wave of the virus hits, all inhabitants of Melbourne are given until 8 pm to get to their homes. Wherever they are when the curfew begins, they must live for four weeks and stay within five kilometres of. When Lou’s son, Samuel, doesn’t arrive home by nightfall, she begins to panic.

He doesn’t answer his phone. He doesn’t message. His social media channels are inactive. Lou is out of her mind with worry, but she can’t go to the police, because she has secrets of her own. Secrets that Samuel just can’t find out about. Lou must find her son herself and bring him home.

Published by Hachette Australia

Released 26 April 2023

My Thoughts:

Home Before Night is a fast-paced crime thriller with the sort of blindside twist we’ve come to expect from Pomare. Set in Melbourne during the endless Covid lockdowns. Don’t let this put you off though if you are Covid fatigued, that’s about the extent of what Covid has to do with this story. It’s more the lockdown providing the means for the disappearance to occur.

The characters aren’t particularly likeable, but they are realistic. Pomare throws out a few red herrings to mislead you along the way, making the big reveal all the more shocking. At the heart of this novel is grief, the overwhelming way in which it can alter a person’s mind and actions.

I sped through this one, enjoying it in the same way I enjoy my guilty pleasure of watching cop dramas. If anything, it ends abruptly and was a little on the short side in terms of resolution, but all in all, a satisfying read and a terrific way to finish a long weekend of reading.

Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.