Sixth in the series from Chimera, and penned by Alice herself in her own individual and earthy style. Set in 1957, the teenager is drawn to Southport and Richard Barker, a changed man, a man who has turned his back on God, a man with a secret agenda. There a forgotten threat awaits her, an associate of Barker's, a name with a reputation in a world of wealth and illicit business.

There amidst the lap of luxury, and sexual adventure, Alice suppresses doubt and conscience, adopting bravado and conceit to bolster a new life. She drives for a world beyond her, a place where her religious past would wilt. But nothing lasts. Her new life snatched away, the redhead finds herself between a rock and a very hard place. A place where pain is never trivial, the body is the only earner, where love long ceased to exist and manipulation is the name of the game.

With friend and lover, Dulcie Waters, Alice shoots for the moon but finds only heartache, and the severest physical discipline she ever endured. Lessons are taught and deterrents ingrained in a world where the Don rules, and law and order are left in the dust. A world where anything can happen – and often does.

Books in the “surreal series” bookshelf created by Sarah Willis