Taut, atmospheric, and psychologically driven; a quiet thriller with bite.
A disappearance on a remote island forces the past to surface—and refuse silence in Ward’s second entry in the Poetic Justice Series.Schoolteacher Rachael McKenzie convinces her abusive husband, Brandon, to join her at her family’s remote cottage on Turtle Island, a stark, off-season retreat tied to unsettling memories. When Brandon disappears without explanation, Rachael becomes a person of interest. Her guarded behaviour and unexplained bruising suggest a volatile marriage, while the island itself hints at a history she is unwilling—or unable—to confront. As scrutiny intensifies and buried truths threaten to unravel, keeping the past buried becomes increasingly difficult.
Ward constructs the story around a steadily tightening investigation, letting tension accumulate through dialogue, withheld information, and shifting perspectives. The narrative moves fluidly between procedural inquiry and psychological unease; it captures the claustrophobic effects of isolation—both geographic and emotional. Rachael is portrayed as a complex protagonist shaped by fear, inheritance, and survival instincts. Her choices are informed by patterns of abuse that extend beyond her own relationship.
Lightly drawn supernatural elements add to the story’s atmosphere, suggesting that violence, once enacted, does not remain contained in the past. Ward treats intimate-partner abuse with gravity, portraying the dynamics of control, secrecy, and endurance without sensationalism. As the mystery deepens, the novel broadens its focus, examining how power operates across generations and within families. Controlled, unsettling, and thematically focused, the novel will resonate with readers drawn to psychological suspense that explores justice outside conventional boundaries.
Friesen Press
ISBN 78-1-03-834625-4 (Hardcover)
78-1-03-834624-7 (Paperback)
78-1-03-834626-1 (eBook)
