'This land is millions of years old and has held secrets that we are able to uncover to this very day, yet the same land seems to have swallowed Max without a trace.'

In the middle of Missing Persons Week, teenager Max Galbraith disappears after a party at the two-up ring on the outskirts of Kalgoorlie. With hundred-year-old mine shafts hidden in the area, no one can be sure whether he got lost while under the influence of drugs or if something more sinister has happened.

Lily Carter, a talkshow radio host, receives information about Brendan Cook, another Kalgoorlie teenager who disappeared in similar circumstances the year before. But the police didn't launch a full-scale search for Brendan. Why not?

Enter Detective Angie Sullivan, new to Kalgoorlie and yet to understand how the town works. With no clear links between the two cases, and Lily accusing the police of incompetence, the town is tipped into uproar. What secrets are hiding out there in the bush? And can Angie discover them before any more kids go missing?

'The parameters of the police and the laws about forcing young runaways to return home are eye opening. McDonald's great factuality, the amazing plot twist (which I didn't see coming at all) and superb writing kept me hooked' Good Reading

Praise for The Prospect:

'Superb writing and storytelling' The Australian

Praise for Fleur McDonald:

'McDonald brings all her passion for the land to her rural suspense' Australian Women's Weekly

'Fleur McDonald is a master of the rural suspense novel, her characters and storyline crackle with authenticity' Family Circle