The Redline

(Paperback)

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An open road. A dead cop. A killer in the hills

I flicked on the torch, swept the surrounds. Nothing. Then I directed the beam into the trees on the other side of the road.

Up on a high, jutting branch, something moved. It may have been a white face, a pale body, a curved leg. Or it may have been none of those things. Was it human Too quick for me to tell. A ripple, a blink and it was gone. But it seemed to leave an afterglow, an impression upon the fabric of the night.

I took a deep breath. What had I seen It had appeared to be a pair of piercing eyes in a pale visage. It could almost have been an owl, so compelling was its gaze, so swift its departure. Maybe it was just a trick of the light, a distorted shadow

There was a crunch of leaf in the litter below and it was gone.

Whatever it was, it sent a chill through me.

Its the festive season in the Windmark Ranges and Sergeant Jesse Redpaths day is going from bad to worse. It begins with her having to arrest the usual drunks and troublemakers and ends with the death of a colleague out on the Redline road. A death which may or may not have been an accident.

Jesse learns there have been other deaths and disappearances in the ranges, and that the local rumour mill suggests the perp is an elusive, semi-mythical character who goes by the name of Anarchy.

Beneath the charm of a close-knit community, a darker truth festers, and Jesses driven to expose it, no matter the disruption to the valleys fragile tranquillity.

Adrian Hylandwrites superior crime fiction with a keen eye for setting and characterisation ...The West Australian

As always, Hyland pays exquisite attention to the environment, as Jesse probes the undergrowth to root out the inevitable crime. The Age

Hyland has mastered the architecture of noir his sinister tale seethes with small-town atmosphere and satisfying twists, set against the dangers and harsh beauty of the Australian landscape.Sydney Morning Herald

Author Bio

Adrian Hyland is the award-winning author ofDiamond Dove,Gunshot RoadandKinglake-350, which was shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Award for non-fiction in 2012. Since 2021 he has published three crime novels featuring intrepid rural cop Jesse Redpath: Canticle Creek, The Wiregrass and The Redline. His books have been published internationally, including in Britain and the US, and translated into a variety of languages, including German, French, Swedish and Czech.