The Good Father

'Heart-stopping and heart-rending, this is Liam McIlvanney's best novel yet' VAL MCDERMID

'Beautifully written, this is easily one of the finest crime novels I've read in a very long time' C.M. EWAN

WHAT COULD BE WORSE THAN YOUR CHILD DISAPPEARING?

Gordon and Sarah Rutherford are normal, happy people with successful, fulfilling lives. They have a son they adore, a house on the beach and a safe, friendly and honest community in a picture-postcard town on the Ayrshire coast.

Until one day, Bonnie the lab comes in from the beach alone. Their son, Rory, has gone-the only trace left behind is a single black Adidas slider.

Their lives don't fall apart immediately. While there's still hope (and no body) they dig deep and try to carry on. It's a process of abrasion-a wearing away of happiness and normality; a slow degradation, a gradual breakdown-until they'll never be the people they were before. This sort of tragedy impacts a whole town. Does the community still feel the same after? What are folk saying about you? Who are your friends? Who can you trust?

When the worst thing has happened and you've lost everything, you either go under or you rebuild and start again.