Paper Cage

A child goes missing in a small town.

Then another. And suddenly everyone’s holding their own kids a little tighter.

Lorraine doesn’t have kids, but she has a dearly loved nephew. And she knows the police don’t have any idea about this case, because she works for them. She’s the records clerk: she sits out back among the piles of paper making connections, remembering things, working things out that the actual cops don’t want to hear about. Until the new detective, Hayes, arrives from Wellington, and realises Lo’s the only person there with answers to any of his questions.

Which is just as well—because the clock is running down for the children of the town.

Both a nail-biting thriller and a beautifully written portrait of a community, Paper Cage is the prize-winning debut from young New Zealand novelist Tom Baragwanath.