Force of nature

An off-the-grid debut thriller brings to evocative life the disquieting wilderness of the West Coast.

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Zoë Rankin's twisty and dark debut about a family raised in the South Island's West Coast wilderness gets off to a promising start.

A traumatised and hungry child emerges from the bush and is found in the only shop in the remote village desperately looking for food. The discovery is “the second most interesting thing to have ever happened in Koraha”.

The child, who at first refuses to speak apart from giving her name, bears an uncanny resemblance to another child who disappeared 20 years ago - the novel’s lead protagonist Effie, who now lives in Scotland where she works in mountain rescue.