Event Recording: Michelle Prak
We had a night of serious book chat and edge-of-your-seat storytelling as we dove into Michelle Prak’s latest thriller, Barren Cape, the taut, terrifying and timely novel from Australia’s queen of adrenaline-fuelled fiction.
Michelle was joined in conversation by BAD Sydney’s Catherine du Peloux Menagé and together they unpacked the novel’s dark themes; isolation, desperation and the invisible crisis of homelessness which is told through the lens of a gripping, high-stakes thriller. It was an evening that pulled no punches and left us all questioning where safety ends and survival begins.
ABOUT BARREN CAPE
From the bestselling author of The Rush comes a spine-chilling thriller about what happens when people are pushed to the edge and forced to make unthinkable choices.
An abandoned resort seems the perfect place to hide, but is Barren Cape a refuge or a trap?
Former housemates Mac and Erika are homeless.
Well, Erika is fine, she just has to live with her parents until she can find another rental. Mac’s situation is much worse – family isn’t an option and she’s surfing the couches of her increasingly exasperated friends.
Driving around one lonely afternoon, Mac discovers Barren Cape. Once destined to be a luxury escape, now it’s just wire fence and gray cement.
It’s stark, but quiet. There’s no harm in staying a little while…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michelle Prak is a professional communicator with a thirty-year career in PR, social media, politics and journalism. Her short stories have been shortlisted in several competitions, and she was runner-up in the Furphy Literary Award 2021.
Her debut thriller, The Rush, was published in 2023. Michelle lives in Adelaide and teaches communication subjects at the University of South Australia.