Cirrus@Austlit

'People go to the isolated Karpathy farm looking for a new life - and are never seen again. A chilling thriller from the award-winning and bestselling author of Australian noir, Shelley Burr.

'Lane Holland's crime-solving career ended the day he went to prison. With his parole hearing approaching, he faces the grim reality that an ex-con can never work as a private eye. Yet one unsolved case continues to haunt him: the disappearance of Matilda Carver two decades ago.

'Never one to follow the rules, Lane finds a lead - a mysterious farm community led by the enigmatic Samuel Karpathy. His farm attracts lost souls. People who want a more meaningful life. People who are hiding from their pasts. People with nowhere else to go.

'But those who go to the farm seem to vanish without a trace.

'Is it a commune? Is it a cult? Is it something even more dangerous? Lane goes undercover at the farm to find its dark secret - but could he too find himself intoxicated by the prospect of a new life on the land?' (Publication summary)