The Quiet People

Cameron and Lisa, a New Zealand couple, write crime novels together. These have done well, even if sales have dipped of late. Then one night their young son, Zach, who may be autistic and can be a bit of a handful, vanishes from his bedroom after threatening to run away. Evidence leads the police to become unsure that he has been kidnapped as first thought, and the media turns on Cameron. Old interviews about committing the perfect crime are dragged up and footage emerges of him losing his rag with his son at a park.

The reader knows from the start, however, that Zach is in the hands of a convicted paedophile. What is compelling about The Quiet People is neither its neat twists nor the topical examination of mob rule, but Cleave’s portrait of Cameron as he goes rogue under pressure and tries to use his writer’s skills to save his son. Worth a shout.