No Country for Girls
Gold. Theft. Murder. A road trip to die for.
Emma Styles’ white-knuckle debut novel is not one to miss. This evocative, cinematic thriller introduces two of the most exciting protagonists crime fiction has to offer. Nao and Charlie are young women on the run. Bound together by a cruel twist of fate, they take off in a stolen vehicle with a bag full of gold across two thousand kilometres of highway. They must outwit police and outrun their pasts if they are to survive the harsh, desolate landscape of outback Australia.
No Country for Girls is an incredibly pacey, heart-in-mouth read and it’s genuinely like nothing else I’ve ever read. The voice is singular, the journey is remarkable and you will never see the twists coming. As debuts go, you will struggle to find another this accomplished. Emma Styles is a writer to watch with an incredible grasp of plot and characterisation. That’s why this novel was selected by Val McDermid as one of the best debuts of 2022, and it’s why readers have been going wild for it.
See the heat shimmering on the bitumen, feel the jolt of the ute engine, experience the wild dangers of the outback. And fall in love with these characters, who – over the course of one killer road trip – step into their power and take on the forces of patriarchy. You won’t regret it.
Cal Kenny
GOLD. THEFT. MURDER. A ROAD TRIP TO DIE FOR.
Winner of the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize
Shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger Award
Shortlisted for the Davitt Award for Best Adult Crime Novel
Shortlisted for the ACWA Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut Crime Fiction
Longlisted for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award
Longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize
‘An unrelenting page-turner’ CHRIS WHITAKER, author of WE BEGIN AT THE END
‘A triumph’ THE i
‘The real star is the desolate Outback’ THE TIMES
‘Thrilling . . . It left me breathless’ ALEX MARWOOD, author of THE WICKED GIRLS
‘Perfectly paced’ SCOTSMAN
‘Razor-sharp wit meets pumping action’ FEMI KAYODE, author of LIGHTSEEKERS
‘Beautifully done’ LITERARY REVIEW
‘A thrilling cross-country chase through remote Australia’ SUNDAY POST
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Charlie and Nao are strangers from different sides of the tracks. They should never have met, but one devastating incident binds them together forever.
A man is dead and now they are unwilling accomplices in his murder there’s only one thing to do: hit the road in the victim’s twin cab ute, with a bag of stolen gold stashed under the passenger seat.
Suddenly outlaws, Nao and Charlie must make their way across Australia’s remote outback using only their wits to survive. They’ll do whatever it takes to evade capture and escape with their lives . . .
Thelma & Louise for a new generation, No Country for Girls is a gritty, twisty road-trip thriller that follows two young women on the run across the harsh, unforgiving landscape of Australia.
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What readers are saying about No Country for Girls
‘What an incredible, high octane, thrilling ride this book is!’
‘I desperately wanted to know what happens next’
‘I loved the characters and the setting, which was described with vivid and rich imagery’
‘Incredibly well plotted‘
‘Tense and thrilling . . . Highly recommended, there are absolutely no slow bits to this story‘
