Bay of Fires

A Novel

By: Poppy Gee

Narrated by: Cynthia Barrett

Sarah Avery's reckless behavior has cost her a job, her boyfriend, and the independence she desperately craves. Reluctantly home for the holidays in the Bay of Fires, a tiny seaside town on the Tasmanian coast, she hopes for a calm, quiet visit, with time to reflect on all that's gone wrong. Those hopes are crushed when, early one morning, she discovers the body of a young female backpacker washed up on the shore.

A year earlier, another woman went missing and hasn't been seen since. Now everyone wonders: is there a killer in the brush? Or were these women victims of Tasmania itself? The island is place of savage beauty: pristine sand beneath orange-lichen covered granite boulders; heaving shadowy kelp fields; sweeping cold currents; crackling bush beyond the seashore. It's also a landscape as flawed, vulnerable and vengeful as any human. Once its fragile peace is shattered, the locals' anxiety fuels a string of speculations about happened to the women - and who might be the next victim.

When journalist Hall Flynn arrives to investigate, haunted by recent failures and yearning for a fresh start, he's determined to do whatever it takes to break the story, and Sarah is his best source of local information. But Sarah - like everyone else in this close-knit town - has secrets she's desperate to keep hidden. And one of those secrets leads straight to a killer's door.

Haunting, evocative, as wildly atmospheric as the remote island where it takes place, Bay of Fires is a startling and wholly original debut.

Not her best work

I found this book annoying and disappointing. Her other book, Vanishing Falls, is much better. The narrator for Vanishing Falls is also excellent.

narrator accent is distracting

the narrator does not appear to be Australian but is trying to use an Australian accent. random words sound like a southern American accent. it's incredibly distracting. i could not finish this book. I recommend listening to a sample first before purchasing to see if it bothers you.

Narrator is preventing me from finishing book

I really enjoyed this authors second book. So much so that I decided to listen to this one. The narrator’s timing and horrible accents are preventing me from finishing this book. The narrator seems to switch between Southern drawl, Cockney, some kind of Australian accent, and European mix-all. She tries to do a deeper voice for men, but it just ends up getting slower speech. I may choose to purchase this book and read it the old-fashioned way, since I have enjoyed this author’s stories. I do not recommend the Audible version of this book.