In The Clearing

Clear your schedules, because after reading page one you won't be able to stop. In The Clearing is another breathtaking page-turner from the author of Call Me Evie. A dark, chilling, atmospheric thriller populated with mysterious and wonderfully flawed characters.

Christian White, bestselling author of The Nowhere Child

'Smart Australian thriller ... Amy and Freya's worlds creepily collide in this unputdownable tale.'

Peterborough Telegraph

Pomare alternates between Freya and Amy's stories in ways that challenge the reader to work out how these two characters connect, gradually revealing the secrets of the past until all the pieces of the puzzle fit satisfyingly

Sydney Morning Herald

Both his books are testament to the fact that he could be one of the most exciting literary thriller authors to come out of the country

The Saturday Paper

Still in his early thirties, he already writes with more assurance, and more subtlety, than some of the giants in his field. It seems safe to predict that he will one day be regarded as a giant in the field too

The Australian

If J P Pomare's Call Me Evie was a slow-burner of a psychological thriller, his follow-up, In the Clearing, is a pared-back firecracker

Books + Publishing

Past and present collide in this taut and unpredictable thriller ... Twist follows twist and nothing is as it seems

Chris Hammer, bestselling author of Scrublands

A chilling depiction of the ferocious hold exerted by a cult and its adherents. This is totally absorbing fiction, made all the more shocking by the realisation that these stories recur again and again in Australian society

Jock Serong, author of The Rules of Backyard Cricket and Preservation

J.P. Pomare captivates in this haunting novel, In the Clearing. I was utterly gripped with the stories of Amy and Freya from start to finish, and fascinated by the unexpected way the two came together ... A sure-fire bestseller

Sally Hepworth

This story plays on our worst fears - the peril faced by children and young people when predators strike. In the Clearing explores the psychology of cults and the experience of survivors and those who don't make it out. A complex and satisfying psychological mystery.

N.B. Magazine

Pomare teases out the mystery of both Freya's past and its connection to Amy's story, delivering a thriller that's tense, twisty and eerily atmospheric.

Gemma Nisbet, The West Australian

Praise for Call Me Evie:

Pomare skilfully controls the drip-feed of information to create a nerve-racking love story that continually blindsides the reader.

The Times