Home Before Night

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The characters are miserable, trying to get through the minutia of the first 8-12chapters was very, very difficult for me. Lou is scared and worried but can't go to the police because she has secrets of her own that she can't let Samuel find out.

She’s a heavy drinker, and presents as perhaps a little paranoid, in part troubled by a secret from her past that Pomare teases out. Pomare does a great job at re-planting readers back into the time of curfews and lockdowns, with brief forays outside to exercise or healthcare and the like. Pomare depicts this precarious, uncertain and trying time well, reminding us of the restrictions that were placed on us just a few short years ago. After reading almost all of Pomare's books, I have never been able to work out the twist endings and this novella is no different. The book is mainly from her perspective - a tortured look into her reality, her life beginning and seemingly revolving around Samuel.There are lots of different twists in this mystery, thriller, my mind had all different thoughts trying to sort out what was happening, and the ending was not what I expected at all, a short story that I did in one sitting, it is fast paced and has lots happening in, characters that add to the story.

I have to say I was ambivalent about reading a book set in the pandemic and it did bring me back to that time and my own feelings about being in lockdown. I suppose if you live in Australia and we’re around during these awful times, it would be a good story for you.

But this is another great read from Pomare and the sneak peek at his next book (included in the paperback copy) will whet your appetite for his 2024 release. With plenty of doubt cast on the characters combined with a number of possibilities raised for Samuel’s disappearance, the pressure builds to a crescendo in Home Before Night. Pomare’s protagonists are authentic character conglomerations, which draws the reader further into this crime tale. Her unhelpful ex-husband doesn’t believe her concerns but will they join forces and track him down together? I feel conflicted about the ending as I had to suspend my belief (and not necessarily in a good way).