The Shadow House

November 1, 2021

After debuting with The Safe Place, which received more than a half-dozen "best-of-summer" or "most-anticipated" recommendations, Australian author Downes returns with the story of single mom Alex, who flees an abusive relationship for what she assumes is the peace and old-fashioned quiet of a remote, pine-skirted village. Alas, eerie events start unfolding when she and her children arrive, even as the town's buried secrets will out. With a 125,000-copy first printing.

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January 15, 2022
An Australian mother's retreat to a bucolic eco-village two hours from Sydney is shadowed by ever more menacing echoes of an earlier tragedy. When her 14-year-old son, Oliver, was suspended from his high school for conduct unbecoming, Alex Ives retaliated against the school, the world, and her abusive mate by abruptly uprooting her children and moving them for a three-month trial rental to Pine Ridge, an alternative community Ollie scorns as a commune for aging hippies and baby Kara is mercifully too young to judge. Everything will be fine, her landlady and upstairs neighbor, Jenny, and Pine Ridge founder Kit Vestey assure her. But everything is far from fine. Maggie, a Pine Ridge veteran, mysteriously takes against her from the get-go, and it's not long before the other neighbors begin to gossip. A series of increasingly nasty practical jokes awakens rumors of the Pine Ridge witch. Stuart, the abusive restaurateur Alex fled, disappears after threatening to find and punish her. More and more, Alex's troubles seem an uncanny echo of those that beset Renee Kellerman, whose husband, Michael, once owned the farm that became the site of Pine Ridge: the vandalism, the dead animals, and ultimately the message Renee has apparently sent her: "My son was taken. Yours will be too." Will Ollie follow the path of Gabriel Kellerman, the teenager who vanished 10 years ago? Downes is less interested in drawing the threads of her mystery together into a tightly logical web than in sowing the seeds of psychological terror, rooted in everyday traumas from sleeplessness to coping with teens, and branching out to create a nightmare world. A hair-raising mood piece you'll be glad to awaken from.

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February 7, 2022
Fleeing from yet another bad situation, single mother Alex, the protagonist of this gripping if flawed psychological thriller from Downes (The Safe Place), heads for Pine Ridge, a new development billed as an ecovillage, with her 14-year-old son, Ollie, and her eight-month-old daughter, Kara. Though Pine Ridge is a far cry from their city life, Alex feels instantly at home in the Australian countryside. Paying in cash, Alex rents a demo house model for three months, pleased to be warmly welcomed by Jenny, her helpful new neighbor, and other residents each seeking a better way of life. Almost immediately, odd things begin to happen: a dead bird is left in a box on the family’s steps; eerie carvings appear on trees. Is there any truth to the tale of the Pine Ridge witch, or is there something more human at play threatening Alex and her children? The distinctive setting and well-drawn characters, especially Ollie, compensate for a convoluted plot that offers no hints of the principal characters’ dramatic backstories until the big reveals at the end. Downes remains a writer to watch. 125,000-copy announced first printing. Agent: Hillary Jacobson, ICM Partners.

April 15, 2022
Alex, a single parent trying to escape a past full of abuse and poorly chosen partners, has a sullen teenage son, Oliver, and an infant, Kara. They leave Sydney, Australia, for the eco-village of Pine Ridge, two hours away. The village seems idyllic and most of the other residents, especially the mothers with young children, are welcoming. Unfortunately, not everyone is quite as nice. Strange things begin to happen as Alex and her family settle in. A dead bird in a box appears on her front porch. The neighbor's cat is killed. A mysterious note turns up in the mailbox, and trees have strange symbols carved on their bark. The charismatic founder of the community owns an abandoned farmhouse that may be haunted by a missing child, and there are tales of a witch living in the woods. Meanwhile, Oliver is spending too much time on the dark web. Alex does everything that she can to keep her family safe, but will it be enough? Fans of psychological thrillers will enjoy this one, but they may think twice about moving to an eco-village.

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