THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2023 'Unforgettable' Observer 'Masterful' Irish Times 'Explosive' The Telegraph We used to be such a force, back then when she was still with us. What happened to her? In the seaside town of Kinlough three old friends are thrown together for the first time in years. They - Helen, Joe and Mush - were part of an original group of six inseparable teenagers in the summer of 2003, with motherless, reckless Kala Lanann as their group's white-hot centre. Soon after that summer's peak, Kala disappeared without a trace. Now it's fifteen years later. Human remains have been discovered in the woods. Two more girls have gone missing. As past and present begin to collide, the estranged friends are forced to confront their own complicity in the events that led to Kala's disappearance... ___ 'A gritty heartbreaker of a thriller... a spectacular read for Donna Tartt and Tana French fans' Kirkus 'The thriller of the moment' The i Paper, Best Summer Reads 'Tana French fans will relish Kala' Guardian, Best Summer Reads 'A compulsive joy' Daily Mail 'Kala heralds an exciting new voice' Observer

A gripping literary page-turner from a rising Irish talent in which former friends, estranged for fifteen years, reckon with the terrifying events of the summer that changed their lives.

In the seaside town of Kinlough, on Ireland's west coast, three old friends are thrown together for the first time in years. They - Helen, Joe and Mush - were part of an original group of six inseparable teenagers in the summer of 2003, with motherless, reckless Kala Lanann as their group's white-hot centre. Soon after that summer's peak, Kala disappeared without a trace.

Now it's fifteen years later: Helen has reluctantly returned to Ireland for her father's wedding; Joe is a world-famous musician, newly back in town; and Mush has never left, too scared to venture beyond the counter of his mother's café. But human remains have been discovered in the woods. Two more girls have gone missing. And as past and present begin to collide, the estranged friends are forced to confront their own complicity in the events that led to Kala's disappearance, and to try to stop Kinlough's violent patterns repeating themselves once again...

Against the backdrop of a town suffocating on its own secrets, in a story that builds from a smoulder to a stunning climax, Kala brilliantly examines the sometimes brutal costs of belonging, as well as the battle in the human heart between vengeance and forgiveness, despair and redemption.