It takes a village to save a child in this pulse-pounding standalone thriller from the acclaimed author of The Man on the Street.

It wasn't her dad they were after.

It was her.

Ruby Winter is surprised when her reclusive father invites a stranger into their house. She eavesdrops on their conversation and is alarmed when she hears a fight break out. She dashes into the kitchen to save her dad but the stranger's the one lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

Her dad urges her to pack a bag. They must quit their Northumbrian cottage and run. There isn't time to explain why. But as they try to flee her dad is captured.

The only people who can help her are the villagers she has shunned her whole life. But, desperate to find her father and to work out who took him and why, she must seek their help.

But what if learning the truth means discovering the life she once knew was a lie?