A chilling and quite eerie that certainly leaves you thinking after finishing it. Highly recommended and I will look out for more from the author in the future.

Unfortunately this book just wasn’t for me. The writing was good, and I can see why other people will like this book, but it just wasn’t for me.

Unfortunately this was disappointing and did not provide the intensity I was hoping for. I find cult stories very interesting. This aspect is what intrigued me initially. The book had much potential, however, it did not reach those high levels. The intensity and suspense was overall lacking.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton via NetGalley for the digital reader copy.

I was largely bored by this and though the finish did slightly step up things it wasn’t enough to rescue this for me.
I just wasn’t connecting and found the first half of this very slow going indeed.
Essentially this is a psychological thriller told from two views points a young girl called Amy who is a member of a cult and Freya a single parent living remotely with her young son Billy.
It flits from each individuals perspective until both story arcs converge to make more sense.

It’s apparent that Freya has things in her past that have massively affected her current headspace.
She has not had things easy and all she wants now is to protect and shelter her young son.
Then there’s young Amy and her everyday experiences living her life as part of this cult.
Both on separate pathways but also part of the same story.
But when the past rears its head things start to spiral for Freya and when Billy goes missing and with all the evidence pointing towards her guilt she has to take it upon herself to save her son from the sins of her past.

So I found this quite predictable and quite plodding and the last third really was the best part of this, unfortunately, it was too little too late for me and wasn’t enough to save things.
I saw the twists coming a mile off they were that obvious and I also found the finish with this one quite jarring and abrupt.
It was well written it just failed to capture my attention or invest me in any way in the unfolding story essentially I was bored and felt disconnected from it all.
I also wasn’t emotionally impacted despite the heavy storyline here.

I have read and enjoyed this author before so will certainly try another of there books but this one wasn’t to my taste at all.
I voluntary reviewed a copy of in the clearing.

This was a very compelling story. It involves a cult and the implications associated with this. Some very good character descriptions and some really frightening aspects to the story.

The blurb reads 'Amy has only ever known life in the Clearing. She knows what's expected of her. She knows what to do to please her elders, and how to make sure the community remains happy and calm. That is, until a new young girl joins the group. She isn't fitting in; she doesn't want to stay. What happens next will turn life as Amy knows it on its head.

Freya has gone to great lengths to feel like a 'normal person'. In fact, if you saw her go about her day with her young son, you'd think she was an everyday mum. That is, until a young girl goes missing and someone from her past, someone she hasn't seen for a very long time, arrives in town..'

An unusual book, set in Australia and based on a true story of a cult established there in the 1960's. I cannot really say much without giving any spoilers so suffice to say its a harrowing tale, made all the more sinister knowing parts are real!
Its a dark story which took me a while to get into but once I did I had to keep reading to discover what happened. Truly chilling.

Thank you very much Netgalley, Hodder & Stoughton and the author JP Pomare for giving the opportunity to read 'In The Clearing'.

I really enjoyed this book which had me page turning into the small hours. Well plotted and suspenseful. A new author to me but one I will look out for again.

A harrowing but brilliant read.

I’m in a pickle. How much do I say in this review without giving away spoilers and at the same time convincing you that this is an outstanding book which will linger with you long after you’ve read the final page? I can put this off no longer, so please forgive me for this review.

Let’s start with Amy – a young teenager who lives in a commune where everyone lives by the RULES. There are eleven children “saved from the outside world”. Adrienne is their saviour and spiritual leader and knows everything. Punishment is harsh and dished out for the slightest provocation. Nobody knows how Adrienne has gathered “her chosen children”, but Amy does know that she helped abduct the last little girl.

Freya Haywood lives in a house with heavy security. She has a young son, and a rottweiler especially trained to attack on command. When she hears that a little girl has been kidnapped her levels of protection for her child kick into overdrive but to no avail. He too, is abducted. The question that you immediately ask is, why her son? What is unique about Freya and her child?

JP Pomare has based his story on the cult led by Anne Hamilton-Byrne, which started in Australia and had followers in The States. The Clearing is the story of Amy and what she went through with Freya playing an important role, especially after her son is kidnapped.

The writing is beautiful. Alive with description. I could smell the heat and dust in Australia. It’s a story that needed to be given a voice – even if it’s fiction, it still makes you want to discover more about cults and how they can suck in “normal”, intelligent people to start believing the mumbo-jumbo sprouted by the leaders. JP Pomare captures your attention for the first sentence and doesn’t let you rest until the final page. Even then, there’s so much doubt left in your mind, you will spend hours wondering whether the evil inflicted by the crazy beliefs of the “saviour” will ever be eliminated.

This book inspired me to research the story of the real cult and its leader, and I love books that not only capture my imagination because they’re so well told but end up teaching me something I had no previous knowledge about.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for the invitation to review via NetGalley ‘In the Clearing’ by J P Pomare in exchange for an honest review. It was originally published in 2019 in Australia and New Zealand. Its paperback edition was published on 10 December in the U.K.

The novel is inspired by The Family, a New Age cult led by a charismatic woman, that operated in Australia from the 1960s-1990s. I had never heard of The Family before reading this novel though I find stories involving cults fascinating. Here the focus is upon the hold that such a cult can have on its adherents and the collision between past and present.

Shh, no spoilers - I am avoiding mentioning details of the plot as I feel that this is the kind of thriller best encountered ‘cold’ for maximum impact.

At first I did find it a slow burn, though when it started gathering speed halfway through - wow! It proved quite a ride, very dark and disturbing. I feel that Pomare wanted to lay a strong foundation for his characters and setting before pulling the rug out from under his readers’ expectations. It certainly had me on the edge of my seat, hardly daring to turn the page.

Overall, I was very impressed with this unusual crime thriller and certainly will seek out his other works.

Yikes, that was a very disturbing story (even more so when you realise just how close to real life it is) but it was extremely well done. I didn’t realise it was set in Australia until I started reading. I’m going to have to do my homework better! Set in the rural outskirts of Melbourne the story is narrated by teenaged Amy and mother of two, Freya. Neither of them were reliable narrators, in fact I don’t think anyone in the whole book was a reliable narrator so you have to question everything. I actually agree with the reviewers that it was better to go into this book pretty blind so I won’t belabour the plot. All you need to know is that it’s about a cult and there is some truth in the saying that you may leave a cult but it never leaves you!

The story was quite confusing and hard to follow at the start and I was wondering what I had gotten myself into but, never fear, stick with it and it all becomes clear, or at least less murky as the book progresses. There were some shocking twists, some you could almost see coming but others... not so much. While this book wasn’t what you would normally call a fast paced thriller there was a sense of growing unease throughout, a sense of menace, dread almost. And the pace did pick up in the second half.

This book was apparently based on the real life cult - The Family, which operated on the outskirts of Melbourne in the 1960s through to the 80s. After finishing the book, I looked up this cult and it is clear the author leaned heavily on the real aspects of this story. There is a photo of the children, it’s a bit ‘Village of the Damned’. The cult did a real number on the poor little guys. I really, really enjoyed this book but I almost feel guilty about that knowing how to close to reality it is. This book will appeal to anyone who enjoys reading about cults, or otherwise enjoys psychological thrillers. Many thanks to Netgalley, Hodder & Stoughton and J.P. Pomare for providing a copy to review. My opinions are my own. 4.5 stars rounded up.

A very troubled book that is muddled and murky and I almost gave up as it’s hard to get into but plough on I did but I’m not sure now if it was worth it.
If you like stories about cults and their effect on people hen it’s for you but I’m no so probably a poor choice on my part.

I am gobsmacked at saying this, but this did not keep me engaged through so many parts of the book. Are my standards too high?!
I really enjoyed the Amy chapters and their lifestyle fascinated me and drew me in, but the Freya chapters were a little slow and because i didn't see the connection between them for so long, i felt frustrated with the story. The ending was great but it was hard work to reach it!

What a wild, unique, intense read. I had literally no idea what to expect, and the twists and turns were just insane. This has some pretty heavy content, and to be frank it scared the crap out of me because its so believable, loosely based on a real cult from Australia.

I thought the writing was excellent, it just left me guessing all the way through. The small clues, the gradual reveal of who everyone is and what motivates them, excellent. The tension really ratchets up in the second half of the book, and honestly I think some of those twists were pure genius, they had me gasping out loud. Let's not even talk about that ending because I'm still reeling.

The mix of Amy and Freya's story was perfectly done. I often find in dual perspective stories that I prefer reading one, and get bored when the other is leading. That is absolutely not the case here. Amy's story is so full of horror, that you need the break from slogging through those awful days with her. Freya's in contrast is mysteriously, both mundanely normal but with the creeping sensation of something terrible always lurking at the edges. You are left questioning absolutley everything.

If you enjoy a tense thriller, with lots of unique elements, this is absolutely one to try. I think I'll be thinking about this one for a long, long time!

“In The Clearing” by JP Pomare is a terrifying, tense, twisty psychological thriller that you will not be able to stop reading!!

Set in Australia, this story is narrated by 2 main characters Amy and Freya. Freya lives with her son Billy and her trained attack dog in an isolated location close to a river. She doesn’t really get visitors but is alarmed by a strange vehicle and senses someone watching her. I could not relax when reading this as the countdown clock (to some terrible tragedy) decreased with each of the Freya chapters. Amy is a child under the spell of a deluded cult leader; she tries to live up to expectations but that is not always possible; punishments are inevitable and severe.

This book is so very clever. It kept me on my toes throughout throwing curve ball after curve ball as it twisted and turned its way to the end. I lost track of the number of times my jaw actually dropped after yet another shocking blow. Secrets, Lies, Duplicitous Behaviour - all the way through...
Amy lives in what they call the Clearing. She knows what to do to please her elders - Adrienne and Adam - and so to spare their wrath. One day she is instrumental in bringing a new face to the family and she is then tasked with helping her adjust. But this task is not easy and failure is not an option so Amy does the only thing she can think of doing even though this course of action will have severe repercussions.
Freya has turned her life around. She has a young son and a dog and, even though she has a bit of a troubled past, she is really trying her best and it appears to be paying off. Until that is three things happen in quick succession. She hears that someone from her past is getting out of jail, she sees a familiar and not so welcome face in town, and she hears that a young girl has gone missing. These things affect her deeply and she starts to fear for both herself and her son.
Quite how these two threads intertwine you'll have to read for yourself. Suffice to say that when worlds collide you'd better buckle up as you're in for a wild old ride...
It's hard to say much more about this book without giving spoilers and any badly placed even small hint will really ruin your enjoyment. You need to discover everything else herein as the author intents for maximum impact. Go in as cold as you can. It's a book of two halves (ish) and once a certain point has been reached then, well, it's just a downhill race all the way to the end.
The plot is one of the most clever I have experienced in time. I had no idea where we were going initially but as the story went on and more of the truth was exposed I started to get a feel for things. Not enough to dodge the rest of the shocks that the author delivered constantly from then on in all the way to the end, and beyond! Tense is an understatement and, if I could have read from behind a cushion I would have welcomed that comfort at certain times along the way. Characters are, well, tricky but perfect. And that's all I can really say about them! Pacing is good and works with what is going on in the story all the way through and the ending, when it came, was absolutely perfect and wholly satisfied.
I am now so eager to go back and read the author's debut novel Call Me Evie and now have it queued up on my Kindle ready for a gap in my tbr. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I'm not going to ever try and discuss the plot of this book, purely out of fear of spoilers, and because I do think it's one of those books that is better if you go into it with very few preconceived ideas about the characters and the plot.

This is definitely a slow burn of a book: at the beginning, very little makes sense, and it is highly confusing trying to grasp what is actually going on. I wouldn't say these sections were slow, but there definitely was a less frantic pace at the beginning. But as the book develops, you get to know the two main female characters, and as your understanding of them builds, so too does the tension. There are some great twists and turns along the way, and elements of the ending were truly jaw-dropping, which is something I rarely say about thrillers. It's definitely a book where you need to pay attention to every little detail, and even then I can almost guarantee there'll be sections that surprise you.

I have to admit, I'm starting to get very picky about what thrillers I read, purely because the market has become so oversaturated that it can be hard to find one's that really stand out. But this one does, and I've already added the author's previous book to my TBR pile. It may start out with a slower pace, but the second half of In The Clearing more than makes up for it. Definitely one I'd recommend.

Disclaimer - I was fortunate enough to be provided with an advance reading copy of this book by NetGalley. This has not affected my review in any way, and all opinions are my own.

This book had everything I would wish for in a brilliant read, a gripping story, the slow reveal of exquisite twists and a cult !! So I’m not going to try and describe the plot line for me it’s a book that should be just picked up without any misconceptions or expectations and I am sure that like me you will be blown away at just how good a read it is. The writing was compulsive and the twists were clever and at times shocking, I love anything to do with cults and this book takes you right into the heart of what I can imagine that life was like and that’s all down to the excellent writing.
Told from two alternate points of view Amy and Freya I was drawn in from the start and I loved every minute of each and every page, it was for me a completely satisfying and brilliant read and one that I can highly recommend.
Many thanks to J P Pomare as you can see I loved the book and can’t praise it enough.
My thanks also to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a fast paced thriller set around a cult and is based in Australia.
There was lots of twists and turns and it kept me gripped from the beginning.
Really eerie.
Great read

What a great story! It’s creepy and terrifying – there were times when I was actually scared to read on.

There are two main protagonists – teenager Amy who lives in The Clearing, and Freya, mother of Aspen and Billy. Amy has never known anything else outside the world of the cult in which she lives. Beatings, hunger, torture – these are all part of her everyday life. The cult is run by Adrienne – Protect the Queen – and Adam, who gets up to some really weird stuff. They are the ‘mother’ and ‘father’ to ten children, of which Amy is the eldest, until they take another child they call Asha. Adrienne needs 12 children for her ‘family’ to be complete. They must all be fair haired and blue-eyed – in fact there are hints that their hair is dyed white if it’s too dark.

Freya lives in the middle of nowhere, with her young son Billy and a big scary dog called Rocky, who is trained to attack strangers who threaten their safety. We know that something bad happened to Freya’s first son Aspen, which meant that she ‘lost’ him, but it takes a while till we find out exactly what. Freya’s ex is called Wayne (the boys’ father) and he seems to have a part in all this. But what is Freya really afraid of?

Freya and Amy’s lives are connected but we don’t know how or why until quite a way into the book. You will be shocked and surprised. I can’t really say much more without spoilers, but be assured this book will keep you up at night, sometimes in a good way and sometimes because you will be too scared to go to sleep. I loved this book. Totally different. They say you can never escape from a cult and you’ll never escape from the effect this book will have on you. In a good way that is!

Many thanks to #NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sharp, sinister thriller with excellent twists inspired by The Family cult in Australia. So many times I thought I knew where it was headed and then JP Pomare pulled the rug out. Highly recommended to lovers of good suspense.