Paper Cage

- Blurb -

Winner of the 2021 Michael Gifkins Prize, this thrilling debut unravels a series of mysterious child abductions in a small New Zealand town. Masterton isn' t a big town. The community' s tight, if not always harmonious. So when a child goes missing it' s a big deal for everyone. And when a second kid disappears, the whole town' s holding their own children that little bit tighter. Lorraine doesn' t have kids, but she has a nephew. She' s holding him a bit tighter, too, because she works for the police, and she knows they don' t have any idea. Lo' s not a cop, she' s a records clerk. She sits out back among the piles of paper, making connections, remembering things. Working things out that the actual cops don' t want to hear about. Until the new investigator, Hayes, arrives from Wellington, and realises Lo' s the only person there with answers to any of his questions. Which is just as well-because the clock is running down for the children of the town. Both a nail-biting thriller and a beautifully written, acutely observed portrait of a community, Paper Cage is the prize-winning debut from young New Zealand novelist Tom Baragwanath.