Masks & Shadows — Michael Riddell

Alex Hanson is a respected Anglican vicar caught up in events surrounding the rape and murder of a small child. Joe Bailey is a career criminal with a gift for violence. Tessa Bromley is a young girl who loves rabbits and dreams of flying. Their lives are about to be changed in ways that can never be recovered. Masks & Shadows is a complex exploration of guilt and innocence. Told through the voices of the main protagonists, it invites the reader into the murky world of the human psyche. More alarmingly, the story crosses boundaries in such a way that it remains impossible to stay outside the dark events described. Readers confront their own capacity for evil as the plot moves to a shocking conclusion. Michael Riddell is the author of The Insatiable Moon. He lives in Dunedin with his family and teaches part-time at Otago University.