Halfway House by Helen Fitzgerald was published by Orenda Books on 18th January. I am delighted to be able to participate in the blog tour to celebrate its launch bwith an extract and to offer a great Giveaway- a print copy of the book. 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…
Extract
‘Cam was paying eighty quid a night sharing a campervan,’
Becks said, ‘way out Woop Woop, where there are no street signs and all the
shops are boarded up. Hope you don’t mind. It’s impossible for performers these
days.’
That’s right, Becks saved people. There were always at least
four randoms dossing in her South Melbourne house. She was constantly
organising events that required a twenty dollar donation and a level-one excuse
to get out of (Covid, dead dog). When Becks went out in Melbourne, she’d take a
bag of two-dollar coins and wouldn’t pass a homeless person without a
conversation and a contribution. After a while, Lou always booked taxis when
they went out together.
‘You’re a performer?’ Lou said, but Cam’s earphones must
have been noise-cancelling.
Becks brandished a flyer she grabbed from the pile in the
corner – Cam Says – and chuckled at the underweight, unwashed man whose
depression was thickening the air.
Lou put her jacket and the flyer on the single bed closest
to the window and stopped herself from screaming. Rapunzel didn’t share her
tower with a homeless guy.
‘You really want to come?’ Becks yelled from her bedroom.
No, Lou thought, opening the curtain and gasping at the
view, but there was no way to get out of this. ‘Love to,’ she yelled. Jesus
Christ, this city hurt her eyes. What was that hill, what was that tower, what
were those ruins, was that the castle?
‘Need to head in five, that okay?’
Lou opened the window and squeezed her head out just in time
to projectile vomit. Her insides made it halfway across the street before
raining on the cobblestones three storeys below. Two heaves and several slow
breaths later, she pulled her head back in to find Cam staring at her in
disgust.
Becks had to run ahead when they reached the top of
Broughton Street. ‘Chips with curry sauce and Irn-Bru,’ she said, ‘you’ll feel
good as new.’ Lou watched as her cousin jogged up the hill with sporty
efficiency, high-fiving an elderly woman without stopping (‘Hey, Nora’), and
depositing a coin into someone’s cup.
Lou put the crazy location into her phone: The Caves,
Cowgate.
By the time she got to the North Bridge she had managed one
orange-coated chip and one inscrutable orange sip. She threw the lot in a bin
and shuffled her way through the thick crowds, seeing nothing but her feet.
Cowgate deserved its name and so did The Caves. She’d made
it just in time, but had to elbow her way into the venue, past people dressed
in furry animal suits and women holding banners saying stuff like Avenge
Sylvia. The theatre was about a quarter full, shame. There was only one aisle
seat, which happened to be two seats from the only man in the audience. Lou
took the aisle seat, put her head between her legs and breathed slowly, a
half-chewed curried chip firmly lodged in the back of her throat. The smell of
the guy beside her was easing her nausea. Oops, he caught her sniffing.
‘Sandalwood,’ he said in an English accent. ‘Birthday
present.’
Is it your birthday?’ she asked.
He shook his head, wasn’t after small talk.
Lou assumed he was a professional of some sort, a reviewer
perhaps. He was dressed in designer jeans, crisp shirt and a cashmere jumper.
He had a rich person’s hair: unkempt, why should he care. He sat up straight as
if he was about to ask a question. He wore a Gucci watch, shiny black Saint
Lauren Derbies. It was very shallow to be attracted to designer shoes and
wealthy hairdos, but she was immediately interested in the man sitting next to
her. She could feel it, like she did with Alan, who had been wearing his Armani
watch when she met him.
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.
Thanks to Helen Fitzgerald, Karen Sullivan and Anne Cater of Orenda Books for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.
Check up on the rest of the tour!
To win a print copy of Halfway House just Follow and Retweet the pinned tweet at @bookslifethings and good luck!
Closing date is January 30th 2024 and there is one winner.
*Terms and Conditions – UK only. The winner will be selected at
random via a random retweet selector from all valid entries and will be notified by X (Twitter)
and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right
to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the
competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with
third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed
to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize. I am not
responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
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Thanks for the blog tour support x
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