Kirjahaku

Lizzy lives in the shadier part of London, far from her hometown in Scotland. In the three years since she fled, following the disappearance of her mother, she has escaped her prison of drugs and crime, only to live in constant fear of being found by dark figures from her past. She is unaware, however, that Oliver watches over her from the shadows. She belongs to him now, as he battles with his need to protect her, and the burning desire to take her soul. Savour is the follow-up toBateman's debut novel, Nondescript Rambunctious, and the second book in a trilogy about a dark, suspected serial killer named Oliver. Savour retains the dark threads of sociopathic depravity that ran through the debut novel, but is once again tempered with a tender ray of humanity that is always shining through. Lizzy is streetwise yet fragile, and her desperate journey is both uplifting and heartbreaking.

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)

Oliver is an elusive new addition to the dysfunctional small town of Dalbegie, Scotland. Unaware of his dangerous side, divorcee Lauren is charmed by Oliver's brief yet charismatic appearances. Lauren has become the latest victim of Oliver's exclusive, secret club, nondescriptrambunctious.com. After Lauren's disappearance, her only daughter Lizzy is left distraught and vulnerable. Under the sloppy care of her extended family, she rapidly spirals into rebellion. Oliver's matter-of-fact justification for what he does leads the reader to contemplate the idea that the most "successful" killers are often the most unlikely suspects. They might not appear evil at first glance-take for example Ted Bundy, or "Canada's bright, shining lie," former Colonel and rapist/murderer Russell Williams. In a society that has become increasingly desensitized, heinous acts of violence are just one more news item to be consumed. Could we go so far as to feel sympathy for a serial killer? In 'Nondescript Rambunctious', we find cruelty at its most devestating-and empathy where we least expected. "Jackie Bateman's debut novel is very impressive. The writing is taut, led, and relentless. 'Nondescript Rambunctious' is a dark, murderous thriller, a winner with a variety of narrators, surprising turns and shifts, and some hard, hard corners." Mark Anthony Jarman, author of 'My White Planet' and '19 Knives' "...'Nondescript Rambunctious', for which Jackie Bateman won the Writer's Studio at Simon Fraser University's First Book Competition in the fiction category, is a thriller that succeeds by nodding politely to the formula, then turning it on its head. The novel has four narrators, but Bateman weaves their voices together effortlessly, and the build-up retains all the suspense and intensity one expects from a crime thriller. ... Bateman hasn't imagined a world of dogged cops, rumpled detectives, or amateur sleuths. 'Nondescript Rambunctious' is about the heartbreaking consequences of human depravity, not tying up loose ends or piecing together clues. It wouldn't be wrong to label this novel a thriller, but it also confounds the expectations of that label, to great effect." Quill & Quire