The title of this new thriller from Colin Walsh refers to Kala Lanaan - a missing girl from a small seaside town in Ireland who mysteriously disappeared in 2003 when she was 15

Across four days, we learn about Kala through the perspective of three of her friends, all of whom are now in their late twenties and reconnecting with each other. Mush has never left the small town they grew up in, Helen has returned from Canada for her dad's wedding and Joe is a famous musician, returning to a hero's welcome. When a body is discovered on a building site and long buried secrets are uncovered, all three find themselves in grave danger as they reckon with the past.

For me, the book was overlong and needed more focus. We spend a lot of time with the three central protagonists and their extended families with a lot of detail on their personal relationships that, I felt, took away the pacing needed for a thriller. The thriller element was intriguing with some great set ups but, unfortunately, those set ups then took too long for any pay-off.

Walsh's writing in terms of setting and characterisation for the main protagonists was well written and the plot was inventive. With more editing and clarity on whether it's a page-turning thriller or a character study, this could have been a really good book.

Kala was an amazing read, I felt so attached to the group of friends, and the reveal at the end of who murdered Kala was a real shock. I honestly couldn’t put the book down and I was sad when I reached the last page.

Kala is a compelling and atmospheric thriller, a story haunted by a claustrophobic hometown and misspent youth.

Kala - the character and her disappearance - haunts the narrative, with the unique charisma of a teen forever frozen in time. I found the characters believable and engaging, each of them shaped by the experience and its aftermath in their own way.

While the resolution was all too predictable, the plot is so well structured and perfectly paced you can almost forgive it.

A literary thriller weighted with atmosphere and buzzing with tension, Kala is a gripping summer page-turner.

Loved it! I finished this book so quickly, after being in a reading slump. The character's are well developed in particular i loved Mush. The mystery element was well done and makes you want to keep reading to find out what happened to Kala. The book is set in Ireland and jumps in time from present to the past, to characters who are still very much haunted by the disappearance of their friend.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Atlantic Books for allowing me to read the proof for this book, i will be recommending this when it comes out.

A beautifully written, character-driven slow-burner. The characters’ stories are peeled back in layers as they get to know each other all over again fifteen years after their friend Kala’s disappearance, each grappling with their demons following the violence that is revealed at the heart of this story.

This is an assured and page-turning debut from a writer to watch.

When I got into this book I could not put it down but it take me a few chapters to get there. A good thriller about a friend group losing a friend at a young age and how they are today due to this significant event in their lives and how their disappearance still overshadows their present day lives. I really enjoyed the character of Mush. He cares more about his friends and family than himself.

A close knit group of teenagers leave their small town and get on with their lives. They come back together for family reasons and have to pick up with each other again. The past that blew them apart is gradually revealed as they each learn more about their individual roles in what happened. Can they correct it?

It took a while to get into the story – it is a slow burn but overall a good read.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

Thank you to Atlantic Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book before publication in July.

This is a highly accomplished piece of writing. I enjoyed every surprising twist and turn in this debut thriller.

Secrets, lies and corruption in a small Irish town. Dual timelines. Story told from 3 distinct points of view. Yes please.

Kala, Helen, Aoife, Joe, Mush and Aiden were best friends. Growing up and falling in love. But as the months go on, they become embroiled in the secrets of the town and get on the wrong side of the Lyons family, a family you really want to be steering clear of. But in this town, there's all sorts of connections and familial ties. And then, Kala, the enigmatic centre of this group goes missing.

Jump to 10 years later and we find out more of the story from Helen, Joe and Mush. What they are up to now, how Kala's disappearance affected the group and what has been going on in the intervening years.

This was so good and really enjoyable to read. Highly recommended and would definitely like to read more from this writer.

Set in the small Irish village of Kinlough, this story traces the return of some old friends to the village where another friend, Kala, disappeared without trace as a teenager.

Two sisters, Theresa and Helen with friends, Joe and Mush, are the adults living out their lives scarred by the memory of that event but the return of two of them triggers the uncovering of some dark secrets before what happened to Kala is resolved.

The book moves between events in the ‘now’ and in the past telling the story through the eyes of different characters. The device works well but sometimes you are not quite sure where past and present get confused.

It’s also complex in other ways with a number of village characters – some of them related, some of them feuding – and there’s additional back story as the novel hurtles along – it’s fast! Everyone also seems to be carrying some unpleasant baggage from the past which makes it dark and violent at times.

The climax is dramatic and unexpected but also so complicated that it needs one of the characters to summarise what you’ve read in the final chapter. There are certainly some twists which this reader had missed!

Along the way, it’s a good read if you don’t mind being slightly lost at times and simply let the book carry you along.

When human remains are found in the woods in the close-knit Irish village of Kinlough, the events of twenty years before come back to haunt three old friends who grew up there. Back then, they were part of a group of six teenagers, at the centre of which was beautiful, troubled Kala, who disappeared one night and was never seen again. A story unfolds of love, family and money, of loyalty and betrayal, and the events of one fateful night at Halloween when lives were changed forever. A tense mystery story, the great strength of this novel is the portrayal of what it is like to be teenagers on the cusp of growing up, having their first taste of freedom, love and the world outside their hometown. The thrill of being cool, playing in a band, wearing too much makeup, sneaking out of the house at night and daring each other to do risky things sings from the pages, but most of all is the sense of friendships so deep that they will endure years of absence and challenges that could never have been imagined. When the harsh realities of their world break in, these will be the ties they draw on to make things right- if that can ever be

I was intrigued by the synopsis of this book when requesting early access through NetGalley but by no means was I expecting to be so transfixed by every page.

Although it was a bit of a slow starter, Walsh managed to perfectly contrast the dark twisted history of a small Irish village with the heartwarming coming of age story of a group of teenagers which was abruptly interrupted by the disappearance of one of the girls, Kala.

I genuinely couldn’t set this one down towards the end and felt that the thriller/mystery element was executed well enough to keep me guessing the whole way through.

Some plots were perhaps not explored as much as they could have been so at times it feels that you are left with more questions than answers but overall I felt like it still had a pretty satisfying ending and I can see me thinking about this story for weeks to come!

Wow. What a thriller/novel! The way the author captures moments and feelings is powerful. The plot is very well thought of, there’s loads of twists and hidden stories unravelling. I just couldn’t put it down and couldn’t stop thinking about it. Isn’t it the sign of a great book?
Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and the author for letting me read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A brilliantly unique perspective on how losing a friend, the pain of the unknowing and childhood trauma moulds people, especially children/teenagers and the effect this has in later life. I loved reading this and seeing a different type of mystery, as you see the characters grow and earn a connection to them you also learn more about their secrets, past and the suspects begin to reveal themselves. This was a dense literary fiction with such beautiful depictions of childhood innocence and fun mixed with much darker themes - I thought the juxtaposition and writing was really heartfelt and amazing. I highly recommend.

Well, this is a novel that will linger in my memory for a long time.

It's long, epic and in places quite dense. It takes a bit of work but the pay-off is spectacular. Once it gets its claws into you, you won't be able to put it down.

Set in Ireland, you can really hear the Irish accents singing from the page, yet the author never resorts to using made-up spelling to reflect how a word sounds. Simply by using standard spelling, these characters truly speak with an accent you can hear in your head. That's no mean feat.

The author has created characters you really care about and a plot that slowly ratchets up until the point the tension is almost unbearable. This is an absolute masterclass in how to construct a novel.

This will be my novel of the year. I cannot see anything topping this for a long time to come. Well done and thank you, Mr Walsh. Total respect.

Jumping between the teen years of the past and adults of the present Kala is an unsolved case of a missing girl that still plays heavy on the minds and personalities of the group she was friends with.
Told from both timelines and several voices the jump between the teen angst and attitude to the (on the whole) more mature reflections of the adults who drift back to town and to each other is perfect- you can almost feel the characters grow before your eyes.
Plenty of intrigue and mystery and plenty of suspects!

A highly atmospheric novel deeply rooted in Northern a Ireland the story of a missing girl told from the point of view of several friends both as the events happen and in flash back
I did find it a bit difficult to follow which character was narrating the section as it switched frequently from narrator to narrator .The chapters were headed with a name but for some reason it took Me quite some time to realise this .
There were quite a few local slang words that I didn’t understand and had to keep looking them up non British readers might struggle even more than I did
The story is gripping and is released at a steady trickle as the book progresses so that you do eventually find out what happens to Kala .There is a sickening inevitability to it which as a reader becomes increasingly evident
The book is creepy at times and at others quite gruesome sometimes when you least expect it
The author has a glowing writing style which at times os almost poetic giving the novel a literary feel to it over and above the who dunnit murder element
I read an early copy on NetGalley uk the book is published on 6th July 2923 by Atlantic Books this review will also appear on my Wordpress book blog BionicSaeahsbooks

absolutely stunning, and completely transportive. Each character has their own entirely unique and bold voice, and they are utterly believable. This is a masterpiece.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Atlantic Books for the privilege.

Kala is a unique novel, somewhere between literary fiction and a thriller. Set in a small Irish town named Kinlough, it consists of two storylines set about 15 years apart. The first, the adventures of a group of friends as they desperately attempt to find themselves and grow up, until everything falls apart when one of them disappears. The second, three of the friends return and reunite in Kinlough, where they are drawn back into the mystery of their missing friend as it continues to unfurl.

The novel is written from the perspective of the three friends. Helen, who left town but is struggling to find happiness; Joe who has his difficulties with alcohol and fame; and Mush who never left Kinlough. Walsh’s writing is wonderfully atmospheric, with a knack for well written dialogue and characters who act realistically and believably.

The part of Kala which I enjoyed the most were the lovely depictions of teen friendships and the passion and desperation that go hand-in-hand. The novel focuses on how changes in the dynamics between friends affects the group as a whole; first Helen moving to town and destabilising the precarious friendship between Kala and Aoife, then the developing relationship between Kala and Joe.

One interesting aspect of the novel was seeing how several members of the ‘crew’ matured from their childhood, and the adults that they grew into. Along with this, we also see how their relationships have developed over the years between the two storylines.

As a thriller it kept me guessing right until the end, with a last minute plot twist that I didn’t predict at all. However, it wasn’t fully executed - with some plot points that were introduced but not fully explored. By the end of the novel, I wasn’t completely sure who was actually responsible for Kala’s disappearance years earlier.

This book is a slow burner. Set in two different times, it concerns a group if friends, one of whom disappears when she is a 15 year old .
Now years later, Helen returns to the Irish village from abroad. She wants to know what happened to Kala . She takes up with friends from her youth.
As the book moves on, the mystery gets deeper and two more girls disappear.
The writing style takes some getting used to and the bigger picture only becomes more apparent as the book progresses. Action does pick up and there are a couple of twists in the plot.
A good read, but you need to be patient to allow the story to develop.
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review