On her first shift at an Edinburgh halfway house for violent offenders, a young woman is taken hostage ... and that's just the beginning... The twisty, shocking, darkly funny thriller by award-winning author Helen FitzGerald. A new novel from Helen Fitzgerald is always a major event ... magnificent Mark Billingham Outrageous, hilarious and dark as hell - this is Helen FitzGerald on absolute top form Doug Johnstone [Lou] is irresistible and very funny ... The set-up is fascinating, the narrative is both fast-moving and convincing Literary Review _______ They re the housemates from Hell... When her disastrous Australian love affair ends, Lou O Dowd heads to Edinburgh for a fresh start, moving in with her cousin, and preparing for the only job she can find ... working at a halfway house for very high-risk offenders. Two killers, a celebrity paedophile and a paranoid coke dealer - all out on parole and all sharing their outwardly elegant Edinburgh townhouse with rookie night-worker Lou... And instead of finding some meaning and purpose to her life, she finds herself trapped in a terrifying game of cat and mouse where she stands to lose everything - including her life. Slick, darkly funny and nerve-janglingly tense, Halfway House is both a breathtaking thriller and an unapologetic reminder never to corner a desperate woman... __________________________ Tense, claustrophobic and laugh-out-loud funny ... an amazingly talented writer Michael Wood A genius combination of horror, humour and humanity B M Carroll Praise for Helen FitzGerald **Shortlisted for Theakston Crime Novel of the Year** Sharp, shocking and savagely funny Chris Whitaker Dark, dark, deliciously dark Amanda Jennings Wickedly funny, breath-stealingly tense and utterly chilling Miranda Dickinson The main character is one of the most extraordinary you ll meet between the pages of a book Ian Rankin Sublime Guardian A dark, comic masterpiece Mark Edwards Urgent, angry, absolutely terrifying Erin Kelly Tantalisingly powerful The Times The classic thriller gets a hell of a twist Heat FitzGerald writes like a more focused Irvine Welsh or a less misogynist Philip Roth Daily Telegraph Domestic life is rarely served up quite so dark as this Sun