Desperate times lead to desperate measures. When Mac finds herself homeless after her and flatmate are evicted, she finds it harder and harder to couch surf and rely on friend's hospitality.

While out driving one day she notices a turn off to an abandoned barely complete resort, Barren Cape. This place is empty, it's desolate, it's out of the way, it's perfect isn't it? No one would know if she camped there for a while. Problem solved.

Little does Mac know that she is not the only person that has found their way into Barren Cape. The situation Mac soon finds herself in will test her to her limits.

With a gradually building sense of menace and tension, I found myself bracing for jump scares and yelling at Mac quite a few times. The startling conclusion and revelation of what really occurred was frightening and so well done. I will never look at an abandoned building the same way again.

Michelle Prak's Barren Cape is a gripping thriller that masterfully explores the precariousness of modern living and the lengths to which individuals will go when pushed to the edge. The novel introduces us to Mac and Erika who are former housemates who find themselves abruptly homeless. While Erika reluctantly returns to her overcrowded family home, Mac faces a harsher reality—couch-surfing among friends with dwindling options. Her discovery of Barren Cape, an abandoned coastal resort seems like a temporary refuge. However, this seemingly safe haven soon reveals unforeseen dangers which challenge Mac's resilience and survival instincts.

The characters are intricately developed, with Mac's journey highlighting her strength and determination amidst escalating threats. The plot is meticulously crafted, offering psychological suspense that keeps readers on edge. The twists just keep coming, you think you have one figured out and another pops up!!

Barren Cape is more than just another thriller novel, to a degree it's an exploration of societal issues and personal endurance.

I'm a huge fan of Michelle Prak and look forward to her next novel!

Barren Cape is a classically orchestrated thriller whose cast, for various reasons, due to circumstances mostly beyond their control, are drawn to an abandoned, semi-constructed luxury resort on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula.

For Mac, the deserted development site promises salvation. Evicted by a greedy landlord, and having exhausted the goodwill of friends, it’s a sanctuary while she awaits her passport and British visa application. For her former housemate Erika, it’s a cool place to show off to her nightclub crush—although Theo bringing along a couple of mates wasn’t exactly what she planned. For schoolgirl Brex, it’s a place to hide out from her mother’s seedy boyfriend. Meanwhile, as they converge on Barren Cape, the police are searching for an escaped killer...

Michelle Prak’s thriller is the kind that had me shouting advice to its characters. Yep—it’s the kind of page-turner where everybody make bad decisions for the sake of our entertainment, and you have to buy into that conceit to truly enjoy the ride. I’m well versed in that practice, of course—I’ve spent a lifetime obliging authors. They hand me that contract, and I sign it every time. Everybody here is terribly flawed, manipulated by exceptional circumstances. Even when a character acts deplorably—and boy, do they—their actions are rooted in desperation. When I didn’t sympathise, I empathised.

Barren Cape builds to a breakneck crescendo. Prak machinegun-fires twists in her story’s final third, which effectively superglued the book to my hands. Escape was not an option.

Mac and Erika are flatmates but an eviction and lack of available housing leaves them both homeless. Thankfully Erika has her family but Mac needs another solution. Cue Barren Cape, a once destined luxury resort that is now abandoned, surrounded by wire fences and unoccupied. It may be a gift for Mac, or a trap.
As she organises to stay there, she realises it may not be the ideal place to camp out after all.

I thoroughly enjoyed this Australian setting, right by the beach, with dangers lurking at every turn. Like the author's previous novel, this one was filled with suspense and mystery, with some interesting supporting characters that kept me turning the pages.

An abandoned and isolated half-built luxury beach resort. A escaped prisoner. A homeless young woman and a trio of smartarse teenagers. Sounds like an interesting setup but in the end disappointing. There’s a few thrilling moments but mostly I just didn’t care about the characters and even though the story is fast moving some of the dialogue is just stupid. And why introduce the stalker character and do nothing important with him? Meh.

Michelle Prak's novel, Barren Cape, focuses on the impacts of Australia's current housing crisis. The book features a number of people who have become homeless: "my father sheltered dogs, while his youngest daughter didn't have her own fixed address." While I liked it drawing attention to the difficulty people face when couch-surfing, and the way not having a home impacts upon self-esteem, I didn't feel like this theme went anywhere, or had anything to say about homelessness really: "Despite my friends' insistence that I could stay as long as I needed, I was an interloper, a charity case, surviving on the fringes of their success as fully functioning adults." What it does make clear is how consuming the question of where you'll sleep each night is, though the lead protagonist Mac still manages to hold down two jobs throughout. By pitting homeless people against each other in the book, I found it undermined the good work it set out to do by raising awareness of the impact of feeling like you do not belonging anywhere: "People rushed past, ferrying bags of food; people with someplace to be. People with homes."

The writing is simplistic, and the characters felt a bit shallow to me. Like other reviewers, I struggled to find a maturity in the adult characters that set them apart from the teenage characters, which impacted my ability to care about the outcomes for either group. There's also a moralistic tone underlying this novel: "At their tender age, having killed one man already, surely they were set on a path of violent crime." So again, I'm back to, is this meant to make us feel more or less empathy for people who are homeless? Not quite sure...

Did I drop everything to read the new novel from Michelle Prak? Yes, yes I did.

Mac was driving around one afternoon and came across Barren Cape. Once meant to be a luxury escape is now just a building that is sitting doing nothing. Recently Mac and her friend Erika have been evicted from there rental property. Mac has nowhere to go and comes up with an idea. Why doesn't she take a look around and stay at Barren Cape for awhile? It will save her so much drama in the long run.. or will it?

I powered through this book in just two days and couldn't stop myself from turning the kindle pages wanting more. Short chapters, some unlikeable characters and everything I have come to expect in a book written by Michelle. I found the different points of view and the location to be very well written. I felt like I too was at Barren Cape alongside Mac and my heart rate spiked throughout the read.

Thank you Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for a gifted copy of the book for my honest book review.

Michelle Prak brings the reality of the housing crisis in Australia to the pages of Barren Cape. I loved Michelle’s first book, The Rush, and knew that we would be in for another wild ride with this book. Once again, I was hooked not wanting to stop reading.

Best friends Mac and Erika find themselves out on the street when they are evicted. Try as they might, they can’t seem to find anything decent and affordable to move to so drastic measures are required. Erika can go back to her family home, as crowded as it maybe, at least she has a roof over her head and is safe. Mac is not so lucky and finds herself begging friends for a couch for a night. She soon tires of this and after a scary night sleeping in her car, she comes across an abandoned building site that was to be a high end resort. How bad could it be?

The author makes you feel the fear of breaking into this building and hiding from security, as well as that feeling of being alone. But how alone is she? Is she is danger? Mac is pretty resilient and tough but she starts to think maybe this is not such a great idea. Makes you think about what you would do in this situation.

Thanks so much to Simon and Schuster Australia for my advanced copy of this book to read, it was page turning and freaked me out in places. Out in Australia on April 2nd.

Barren Cape is the second thriller by Australian author, Michelle Prak. Yes, the housing affordability crisis has been in the news, but until Mac and Erika are evicted from their flat, it was someone else’s problem; now, it’s theirs, too. Erika goes back to her parents. After months of couch surfing and a frightening, aborted attempt at sleeping in her car, Mac stumbles on a possible solution: an unfinished coastal resort abandoned during the pandemic. No water or power, but standing empty, right on the beach, a public ablutions block nearby.

She sneaks in, sets herself up for a temporary stay (her British visa surely can’t take too long now) and makes sure to stay under the radar of the lazy security guard. What she doesn’t count on: a violent prison escapee, a trio of truant teens, and a thoughtless friend unable to keep a secret.

A bit of an introvert, Mac felt safe and happy on her own, but suddenly that all changes and her life is in danger. Luckily, when the friend eventually sorts her flawed priorities, she turns out to be gutsy and brave There’s not a huge body count, but there is plenty of tension, with twists, turns and surprises keeping the reader guessing. Topical, wholly credible, and nail-bitingly good.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley, and Simon & Schuster Australia.

Wow, what an unforgettable, suspenseful thriller!

When Mac and Erica become homeless, Erica reluctantly returns to her overcrowded family home. Mac is unfortunately not so fortunate and begins couch-surfing; until she discovers Barren Cape, an abandoned and unfinished resort. Surely there is no harm in staying at Barren Cape for a little while…

What follows is a chilling and timely reminder of the vulnerability of precarious living situations, and lack of support. I felt immersed in the coastal South Australian setting, and appreciated the varying perspectives of three strong, memorable female characters – Mac, Erica and Brex.

I love when I cannot see where a story will lead, and this certainly offered plenty of psychological suspense and a well-written plot, with twists that kept me guessing right to the end. I also enjoyed the exploration of friendship, the brashness of youth, independence, social isolation and fractious relationship dynamics.

With many thanks to Simon & Schuster (Australia), Michelle Prak and NetGalley, for this e-ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

Michelle Prak has proven herself to be an incredible thriller writer, and I am very excited to read what she produces next!