THE NUMBER ONE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2023

'A gritty heartbreaker of a thriller... Part heartfelt coming-of-age tale, part brutal Irish noir, this is a spectacular read for Donna Tartt and Tana French fans' Kirkus

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. 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, 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.

'Tana French fans will relish Kala' Guardian, Best Summer Reads

'The thriller of the moment' The i Paper, Best Summer Reads

'An addictive read with explosive revelation' Daily Telegraph

'A compulsive joy' Daily Mail

'Kala heralds an exciting new voice' Observer

Fifteen-year-old Kala Lannan disappeared from the tourist town of Kinlough in November 2003. No trace was ever found - until now, when her remains are discovered at a local building site. The day after the grisly discovery, Helen Laughlin, Kala's best friend and confidante, reluctantly returns to the town she ran from ten years before.

Helen falls in with two other members of their teenage gang - Mush, scarred and scared to leave the safety of his ma's café on the high street, and the Famous Joe Brennan, Kala's boyfriend, a commercially successful but emotionally conflicted musician newly returned in an effort to dry out and reconnect with something authentic in life. Their actions over the following days are propelled by the need to understand what happened to the girl who meant so much to each of them and whose disappearance upended their lives. But to find answers, they have to confront their own complicity in the events that led to Kala's disappearance. Ultimately, they must do what others should have done before them to stop the violent patterns of their town's past repeating themselves once again...