Cold Skin

A page-turning read about father-son relationships and the many ways of being a man. Eddie doesn't want to be in school; he wants to work in the mines. But his dad won't go down in the coal pits, and he won't let his sons go either. Nothing much happens in the town of Burruga, except for fights at the pub. Then one Friday night a girl is found dead by the river, and every man in town comes under suspicion. Eddie is drawn into secrets and a bitter struggle for revenge.

A teen's first love, sexual awakening, murder, cowardice, vengeance, and forgiveness . . . these are the powerful ingredients for Steven Herrick's gutsiest book yet. Herrick deftly reveals a cast of vivid characters in this USBBY Outstanding International Book, a chilling story of malice, power, and the courage to forgive.

Taylors Bend is named after a bloke who owned some of this valley a long time ago. Mr. Taylor lost his sons in the Great War, and all he had left was a few hundred head of sheep and the river that flooded his fields most winters. They say when his sons didn't come home, he tied himself to a tractor wheel and jumped into the water at the deepest part. No one could find his body, so they named this bend to remember him. …—FROM THE BOOK