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Night Swimming
Tell me about your dreams
about your sleep
about your nightmares.
Tell me everything,
he says as he leans
towards me,
his eyes resting
on my thighs.
January Clare Colson is longing for sleep, for release from the wakefulness that is consuming her, haunted by the tragic drowning of her best friend years ago when they were rebellious teens. She’s a mess of pills and broken promises, swimming in desperation.
Then he walks back into her life, changed but the same, and the events of long ago take a new grip on her. She needs to know what happened. She needs to know him. To call him to account.
But her strategy is dangerous, obsessive, warped by insomnia and the intense power of thwarted desire.
January Clare Colson is standing on the brink of destruction.
Sharon Kernot’s debut verse novel for adults is a riveting psychological thriller that catapults the reader into the mind of a deeply tormented and vulnerable protagonist, blurring the boundaries between victim and aggressor with shocking effect.
Sharon Kernot is the author of three novels including two acclaimed YA verse novels, The Art of Taxidermy and Birdy. Her poems and short stories have been published widely in Australia and internationally. Sharon lives in Mount Barker, South Australia.
about your sleep
about your nightmares.
Tell me everything,
he says as he leans
towards me,
his eyes resting
on my thighs.
January Clare Colson is longing for sleep, for release from the wakefulness that is consuming her, haunted by the tragic drowning of her best friend years ago when they were rebellious teens. She’s a mess of pills and broken promises, swimming in desperation.
Then he walks back into her life, changed but the same, and the events of long ago take a new grip on her. She needs to know what happened. She needs to know him. To call him to account.
But her strategy is dangerous, obsessive, warped by insomnia and the intense power of thwarted desire.
January Clare Colson is standing on the brink of destruction.
Sharon Kernot’s debut verse novel for adults is a riveting psychological thriller that catapults the reader into the mind of a deeply tormented and vulnerable protagonist, blurring the boundaries between victim and aggressor with shocking effect.
Sharon Kernot is the author of three novels including two acclaimed YA verse novels, The Art of Taxidermy and Birdy. Her poems and short stories have been published widely in Australia and internationally. Sharon lives in Mount Barker, South Australia.
336 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 2, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 13, 2026
Read in one sitting, so smoothly written. Enticing plot!
July 13, 2026
Author Sharon Kernot has previously written two amazing YA verse novels, and now she has turned her skills to her first adult verse novel - and even better, it is a psychological thriller written in verse.
If, like me, you love verse novels and you love thrillers, then this is the perfect combination.
I really enjoyed the nuance and plot twists of the thriller genre matched with the elegance and spareness of a verse novel.
Fast paced and enthralling, this is definitely a book I recommend to all thriller lovers.
Thanks to Text Publishing for the review copy of this book
If, like me, you love verse novels and you love thrillers, then this is the perfect combination.
I really enjoyed the nuance and plot twists of the thriller genre matched with the elegance and spareness of a verse novel.
Fast paced and enthralling, this is definitely a book I recommend to all thriller lovers.
Thanks to Text Publishing for the review copy of this book
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April 24, 2026The following book reviews have been shared by Text Publishing – publisher of Night Swimming
‘Tense, addictive and masterfully written — Night Swimming takes one woman’s obsessive dream of revenge and makes it all too real and relatable.’
Vikki Wakefield
‘Tense, addictive and masterfully written — Night Swimming takes one woman’s obsessive dream of revenge and makes it all too real and relatable.’
Vikki Wakefield
July 11, 2026
4.5 stars rounded up. This was such a gripping book, pacey and kept me wanting more. I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy a book written in verse but it flowed so well. Clare is an unreliable and unlikeable narrator twisted by insomnia and haunted by the death of her best friend and the man who was there.
June 12, 2026
3.5 stars. Read through it in one day. Love the concept of a crime/thriller written in verse. It flowed really well.
June 27, 2026
Loved it. Like nothing by else I have ever read, incredibly pacy and unique
July 2, 2026
3.5 stars
I don’t read verse novels much but this one was great and finished in a few hours which felt good!
I don’t read verse novels much but this one was great and finished in a few hours which felt good!
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July 4, 2026She would've been dinged by the RTPM page one
July 6, 2026
This is a tense psychological thriller that is written in verse. It's a very different format for a thriller, but I think it definitely works.
January Clare Colson is struggling terribly with insomnia and the physical and psychological effects of this. She is haunted by the tragic drowning of her best friend Julie years ago. “He” is the only other person who was present when this happened, but disappeared immediately, leaving January no proof of his existence to share with the police.
Suddenly “he” appears at her counter of the social security office where she works, and she becomes obsessed in proving that he was there at the time of Julie’s death and may have been involved.
She has a supportive partner, Tom, who sways between being understanding of her insomnia and the effects of it and frustrated as she frequently lets him down.
As the story slowly unfurls, you learn more of January’s background, her and Julie’s teenage escapades at the time and learn more about her character. Is she trustworthy, and is she a reliable narrator?
This one was addictive reading for me right until the shocking end.
4.5 stars
January Clare Colson is struggling terribly with insomnia and the physical and psychological effects of this. She is haunted by the tragic drowning of her best friend Julie years ago. “He” is the only other person who was present when this happened, but disappeared immediately, leaving January no proof of his existence to share with the police.
Suddenly “he” appears at her counter of the social security office where she works, and she becomes obsessed in proving that he was there at the time of Julie’s death and may have been involved.
She has a supportive partner, Tom, who sways between being understanding of her insomnia and the effects of it and frustrated as she frequently lets him down.
As the story slowly unfurls, you learn more of January’s background, her and Julie’s teenage escapades at the time and learn more about her character. Is she trustworthy, and is she a reliable narrator?
This one was addictive reading for me right until the shocking end.
4.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews