Pine Creek

by Kamille Roach

Finalist National Indie Excellence Awards 2024.
Finalist CLUE Book Awards for Suspense/Thrillers 2023.

On a bitter winter’s night in Pine Creek, 1989, central New South Wales, 14-year-old city boy Alec tells his mother a secret before he goes to bed.

It’s the last time she will see him alive.

In the weeks before, forbidden to go near the new neighbours, Sara is watching when Alec is threatened by a stranger, and later, when he meets secretly with someone familiar.

When Alec goes missing, the incidents take on new significance, but in the menacing shadow of her father, Sara knows not to make trouble.

A decade later, the guilt that still plagues her resurfaces when Sara returns to the farm, where she discovers that the darkest secrets lie closest to home.

408 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 2023

About the author

Born in Western Australia, Kamille holds a Science Degree, Comprehensive Writing certification, and facilitates a prose writers’ group at the Fellowship of Australian Writers W.A.

Winner of the BJ Paterson Writing Award 2013, Kamille’s short stories have placed in competitions nationally, and her articles have been published in print and online.
Based in Perth, Kamille is a working nurse and fitness instructor, and was once a member of a highly sought after, all-female, broccoli planting team!

Reviews

[Caroline Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written Aussie mystery set on a farm in the eighties. Thought I had the ending all worked out but there were a few nicely hidden twists.

[Nicola Bellugue · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the first page, Pine Creek grabbed me, hooked me in. Set in the homophobic 80’s, then later, chronicling life on a NSW farm for Sara with her siblings, mother, not so nice Dad and a new boy in town.
It’s more than a “who done it”, kept me guessing and there’s a couple of ripper side stories. Beautifully written and researched. Highly recommended.

[Richard]

Congratulations. To my mind this is better than the first book. Concise, and appropriately paced, with a well crafted story arc. Good characters, especially Len. ?Vince Colosimo to play him in the movie - but he is of Italian descent! I loved the menacing tone developed in Part 1. Altogether an excellent read.

[Stefan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kamille Roach has risen to a new level since her first work. Pine Creek pulls you in and then keeps the story unraveling right to the end. A pleasure to read.

[S. Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sara and her siblings are growing up on an Australian farm with their tyrannical father and submissive mother. She spends her spare time pining for a young farmhand and dreaming of ways to escape until a local tragedy interrupts the regularity of her existence. The teenage boy who lives across the road is struck and killed in a seeming hit and run, a boy who Sara knows has been the target of homophobic bullying. Ten years later, an adult Sara returns home and learns that her family and neighbors have all been keeping some terrible secrets about what actually happened that night.

Pine Creek is somewhat predictable and employs more than a few of the cliches one might expect from reading the description (Protagonist feels guilty about something that clearly was not their fault! Upon further investigation, it is revealed that it was not their fault!). There is some stilted writing, and a few plot points that require some suspension of disbelief--namely, that the adult Sara would still be so hung up on the decade-old accidental death of someone she barely knew, and still not over her teenage crush. Nevertheless, there were enough items of merit that I was compelled to keep reading. The mysteries were just intriguing enough that I wanted to find the answers, even if the journey was littered with small flaws. The setting is by far the novel's strongest point, and is worth reading for that alone. The author's description of rural Australia is lush and evocative and pairs well with the hushed and ominous tone of the narrative. I would recommend this one to mystery lovers.

[Karen Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pine Creek is one of those books that compel you to keep reading!
This novel was more than a crime genre story centred around a missing teenager who was subsequently found to be murdered in a rural Australian setting.
The realistic characters and their individual personalities and emerging issues were people you could identify with at one time or another in your own life.
The storyline encompasses poignant underlying theme of family violence - impact and consequences of emotional and physical abuse for inflicted family members.
Homophobic, judgemental and bullying behaviour and adverse peer pressure were all powerful issues intertwined in the storyline but balanced by positive character attributes exhibiting bravery,intense loyalty, integrity, compassion and forgiveness.
There were several clever twists and turns particularly towards the end and just enough interpersonal connections to leave you wondering if perhaps your version of a happy ending could be possible!

Fabulous second novel for Kamille Roach and I strongly recommend Pine Creek as an excellent read.

[Tanya Boulter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was pretty unsure about this one, but I absolutely loved it!!!

[John Kamande · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pine Creek by Kamille Roach I can say is phenomenal! This is an adult read that will cause you to have a rollercoaster of emotions evoked by the different characters in the book. I love how in the different chapters the writer has used time descriptions such as years, days, evening etc. This is because it helps me connect and flow with the story as it unfolds and understand what happens at a particular time. I thought this is very thoughtful. I did not get lost trying to figure things out. Now to the meat of it. Alec’s mother Lillian makes a decision to move to Pine Creek where unfortunately they get a reception that they did not anticipate. The Hamiltons are their neighbors and the man of the house, Len Hamilton is not kind to them as you will get to see as the story continues. Elena Hamilton, Robbie, Anne and Sarah don’t seem to have a problem with their new neighbors. In the story, Len appears to be a very violent man towards his wife and children. This is evident in the way he treats them. As the plot thickens, Alec is involved in a hit-and-run accident where he meets his death which initially is said to be suicide. Sarah Hamilton does not buy this and she trys to piece things together to come up with the cause of Alec’s death. This book is thought-provoking, entertaining and will give you zaps of adrenaline. It is an enthralling page-turner that I can highly recommend!

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is an incredibly captivating read that keeps you guessing until the very end. i feel that this book speaks about a topic that most people prefer to brush over, the incredible homophobia of the 80’s in australia that was brought in part by the aids epidemic. as a young queer girl, i knew that, like most places, australia probably had its homophobic past, but i wasn’t aware of the murders of gay men that went largely unpunished. pine creek takes the a dark part of history and makes it real, these gay men were not just statistics, like alec, they had their own wants and interests, they were their own people. this book perfectly combines fact and fiction to create a truly thrilling novel that transports you back to 1989 australia. the second part is incredibly satisfying, and leaves you feeling like everyone got what they deserved. a personal highlight in the story was kamilles description of the dogs, it’s incredibly vivid and makes it obvious she has spent a lot of time around dogs. i would definitely recommend this book, it’s dark, thrilling, intense and so worth reading.

[Chelsea Hainsworth Pyke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a page turner from the start. Kamille writes in a beautifully descriptive narrative that allows the reader to picture the setting, the characters, all the trimmings of a time gone by. The first part of the book explores a time that was so simple yet full of prejudice, injustice and patriarchy. A time in which people learned it was easier to play their roles and deny their truth. Within the framework of a suspicious death, the reader follows the lives of a plethora of fascinating characters. With twists and turns that keep the reader guessing to the end, this beautiful narrative invites the reader into a world of lives shaped by trauma, submission, prejudice, guilt and domestic violence. The reader follows these characters as they discover that the road to finding justice for a teenage boy is the path they needed to follow to rebuild their broken selves. A gripping tale to the end.

[Teleah Hollier-Werner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This heartbreaking story highlights how abuse steals innocence and weighs on every part of the victim’s life, with imagination sometimes the only escape. It encourages the reader to reflect on the events of the AIDS epidemic in the 80s and gives the perspective of someone who is supposed to be full of hate but simply isn’t.

This book shows a kind of pure evil that we don’t usually see or hear about in the media, a real evil in an otherwise normal setting. An evil that sees itself as a king, a godly figure, a mighty being. An evil that infiltrates, spreading like mycelium in a dead log.

The author paints a realistic picture of the long- and short-term effects of ever-present fear and manipulation, while also creating beautiful imagery in contrast.

I highly recommend this book, I read it in 2 days because I couldn’t put it down.

[Kim Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend Kamille's book, 'Pine Creek', a gripping story set in the 1980's about a family growing up on a farm and the emotional and physical harm caused to all the family members by the domineering and violent patriarch Len Hamilton. The story had me hooked from the start and kept me guessing until the end, it was hard to put down as I always wanted to know what was going to happen next. Growing up in the 70's and 80's, I remember the AIDS epidemic, the homophobia and also knew families just like the Hamiltons. This book explores and exposes the long-lasting effects that violence and secrets can have on people and communities. A fantastic read to the very last page!

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book took me straight back to the late 80s in Western NSW and the social issues that families were struggling with in their daily lives.
Just like A Matchbox Full of Pearls transported me to Western Australia where I could see, smell and hear the natural landscape Kamille painted, I could see the characters and landscape of Western NSW in my mind and was sad to find myself at the end of the book and my journey with them over. Its a great story and more complex than a simple whodunit.
I also enjoyed the little bonus of the animals in the book and their different personalities and parts in the story.

I can’t wait to see what Kamille writes next!

[Dylan Kinloch · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Law and Sociology dual-major in undergrad, I have always been drawn to the intersection of the crime and its effects on individuals and society at large. "Pine Creek" underscores the impact that abuse can have on the victim. Author Kamille Roach unveils the often-concealed reality of a victim's life after being abused. She touches on the manipulative nature of the abuser, as well as the fear that the victim lives with for the rest of their lives. So often, we as a society hide the existence of abuse in our world, pretending that it is either not real or not as prevalent as we fear. Roach bravely offers a platform where readers can give the topic the attention it deserves!

[Gerard]

Pine Creek is enigma at its best. The narrative is multi layered, an interweaving of sinister undercurrents and characters portrayed to carry suspense without relief. The plot lines of male domestic violence, emotional, psychological and physical, tangles with homophobia and back stories hinted at with subtlety. It is rural noir at its best, cleverly retaining an earthy humility in its storytelling whilst depicting the depressed side of 1980s Australian country life with the lure of redemption in the city. The stings in the ‘tale’ keep unfolding, revealing the clever and intelligent plot structure. A perfectly rounded story.

[Narelle Sarkozi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fantastic. Had me in from the prologue, it is filled with beautiful descriptive language throughout and is well paced. The storyline is quite unique from what you might expect of a rural noir novel being set with a view into the homophobic 80’s. At several points of the story, I thought I had the answers only to hit another twisty turn that took me elsewhere. The characterisation is solid and I felt deeply for them as the events and truths were revealed. I highly recommend this book to anyone that loves a totally engrossing, cracking crime read!

[Carol Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fell deeply into this book and couldnt put it down. Growing up in the 80’s, the issues faced and subsequent blatant bigotry touched a nerve. Following the characters as they were exposed to the disappointment of their parents, was at times raw and painful. The secrets and emotions of teenagers shows that often fate is written in our childhoods, rather than our stars.

A eloquent and powerully written book. Kamille Roach is one to keep an eye on.

[Prue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend Kamille Roach's latest book Pine Creek. Unflinching, you cannot look away, striking so close to home. A then-and-now who-dunnit mystery underlaid by the most raw and honest portrayal of a dysfunctional individual irrevocably impacting their family. My favourite line: "She wondered how she could be so bold, to say it out loud, to mess with the order of things". Such a page turner, its an invitation for a more honest conversation.

[Hanna Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has me hooked from the very first sentence and I literally could not put it down,I would deliberately go to bed early just so I could read more!I felt like I was inside of the story and went on a big roller coaster of emotions until the very last word.beautifully written!and I cannot wait to see if this author writes more!

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a storyline to reignite my passion for reading. Life has been busy and I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed the bedtime ritual. Kamille’s descriptive writing skills had me turning the pages looking for more, I often felt as though I was a part of the storyline. I can’t wait to read more of Kamille’s work.

[Ricky Bligh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliantly written book that is no only a page turning mystery, but draws you in to family life behind closed doors, and the lifelong repercussions of dominance and control.
A time in country NSW of accepted homophobia that is hard to comprehend in today's Australia, it is also a story of love and compassion.
This is an evocative read that stays with you well after the final page is read.

[Charlotte Jorgensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found it hard to put down. Kamille’s use of language and descriptions made me feel as if I was right there with the main character. It’s set in a small rural town in the late 1980’s where Kamille pulls together beautifully a story of teenage life, love, family struggles, mystery and issues of that era, made worse by a small country community.

[Narelle Roach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. Much of the rural crime genre is pretty formulaic. This one breaks the mold and brings in a dark controlling patriarch and the homophobia of a country town in the 1980s AIDS paranoia. A wonderful book with memorable characters and an uplifting (if dark) ending.

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cracking read that kept me guessing to the end. Full of small town prejudices and growing up in isolation, feeling trapped and living under the threat of violence. The Len Hamilton character gave me chills.

[Bella · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well researched, beautifully written book that fearlessly exposes a dark period in our recent history while weaving a compelling narrative around the disappearance of a young boy, with the perfect amount of suspense.

[Christina Ferguson]

Fantastic Australian rural crime novel, had me turning the pages. Very intense at times with some DV scenes but so well written I wanted to read right until the end. Great character building and development throughout. I would put it up there with Chris Hammer and Jane Harper novels!

[Judith Wilkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written,absorbing story intertwining a mysterious death with penetrating observation of small town life and family relationships. A very good read.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was recommended this book by my sister. This novel spoke to my growing up in central nsw during the 1980s. The characters were all so familiar. Thoroughly enjoyable and well written.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very intense, interesting and intricate story.

[Sinarina Letizia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly enjoyed this book. Loved the medical details. Great plot and an interesting twist that will keep you guessing til the end.