IPPY Gold Medal (Independent Publisher Book Awards). Domestic satire meets gripping suspense in Straight Circles, the final, explosive chapter of The Lizzy Trilogy. The original and eccentric cast of characters return in this genre-bending thriller, but not everyone's getting out alive.

Newly pregnant Lizzy arrives to revisit old haunts in the bleak Scottish town that she escaped years ago as a teenage runaway. Along with a yearning to rediscover her roots, she wants to confront her harrowing past and learn what happened to her mother, whose disappearance has remained unsolved. Instead, she comes face to face with her estranged father, whose violent side soon emerges with devastating consequences.

But someone else is watching, and Lizzy's father will pay.

Oliver is back, and this time there will be no waiting, no savouring, and no patience for the small-time victims and criminals in his way. He's ready to claim his ‘little bird' - and to show her exactly what happened to her mother. What Oliver doesn't know is that someone is tracking him, and will do anything to poach his most elusive prize.

In Straight Circles, Lizzy returns to the heart of the story, where the stakes are higher than ever. Where it all began is where it will all end, in a chilling confrontation with the man who has been tracking her for years. In a disturbing finale, we are left to watch as Lizzy walks straight into the path of two dark and dangerous killers - and makes the biggest mistake of her life.

Praise for Nondescript Rambunctious:

"... a thriller that succeeds by nodding politely to the formula, then turning it on its head." (Quill & Quire)

Jackie Bateman writes fiction and dabbles in commercial copy. Originally from England, she will always champion the Marmite sandwich, but is now settled in beautiful Vancouver with her husband and two children. Nondescript Rambunctious is her first novel. She can be found at www.jacbateman.com

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