Call Me Evie by J.P.Pomare, a chilling psychological thriller
I have a soft spot for New Zealand, even though I’ve never been there, nor do I have any friends or family there. I’ve invested so much day dreaming into it that at this point I’d be afraid to go, in case my preconceptions are spoiled. It used to comforting to have some corner of the earth in mind to run away to if I were minded to run away. Maketu Beach, the setting for Call Me Evie, is the sort of picture postcard place I imagine when I think of New Zealand, that and the filming locations for Lord of the Rings. Unlike Mordor, Maketu appears a scenic, friendly place, yet J.P. Pomare, the author, has turned it into the setting for a chilling psychological thriller. The horrors that the protagonist ‘Evie’ tries to work through in her own mind, are eerily juxtaposed by this place where people walk their dogs on the beach or go surfing. It’s a fascinating story, plotted over two alternating timelines, past and present, with an unreliable narrator reflecting the uncertainty of ...