No Country for Girls

This is a gripping debut from Emma Styles, an exceptional new voice in crime fiction. Longlisted for the Authors’ Club Best Novel Award and the John Creasey Dagger, No Country for Girls is Thelma and Louise by way of Jane Harper.

Styles is a brilliant stylist and this Australian road trip takes off at breakneck speed. The prose is incredibly fresh, the characters are nuanced and the pace is unrelenting: a killer combination. This voice-driven thriller explores young women transgressors who subvert every expectation and overturn every trope placed upon them, in their journey to freedom. Nao and Charlie are our protagonists and from start to finish they are firmly in the driver’s seat.

There are twists and turns aplenty and genuinely gasp-worthy moments throughout the narrative. No Country for Girls has a cinematic quality that makes you feel like you’re watching a blockbuster on the big screen, and the antagonist is genuinely frightening.

All in all, it’s the perfect book to kick off the summer with. By the end of the reading experience you’ll feel you know the characters intimately, and they will stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page. 

Cal Kenny