Dark Horse by Honey Brown
Don’t be led astray by her sweet name – Honey Brown can write a mean psychological thriller. Last year, I adored her highly original After the Darkness, and this year Dark Horse has come along to keep you unnerved for some three hundred pages.
It’s Christmas Day and Sarah Barnard is frustrated with the world. Instead of going to see her disapproving parents, she takes to the Tasmanian mountainside with the one she trusts most: her damaged black mare, Tansy. But, on the ascent, catastrophic weather floods the mountain, endangering her life and trapping her. She seeks shelter and, as the day passes, realises she is not alone.
A young man, Heath, is there too – attractive, evasive and disconcerting. It is not entirely clear why he is on the mountain or how he got there or whether anything he says is true. What is clear is that he is hiding something from Sarah, but is it just his real name, or something much more sinister?
The nature of their relationship, and the ground beneath them, is constantly changing. You’ll second-guess yourself throughout while reading this, and probably never go camping again.
