Today’s Authors’ pick has been chosen by Narelle M. Harris.

I nominate Thrive, by Mary Borsellino. Full disclosure – I did the edit on this book and launched it, in part because I’ve been a huge fan of Mary’s work for years and Lindy Cameron, the publisher at Clan Destine Press, knew that I would know how to approach the edit on it.

Thrive follows a privileged girl named Olivia, who at the outset is being held by kidnappers but befriends one of the teenagers holding her, Hannah, who introduced Olivia to the world of banned books. Olivia is rescued (and rescues Hannah) but the way she sees the world is fractured. Her new knowledge of the greater world, its unfairness and its suffering, leads her to abandon the comforting lie of her life and to some dark and dangerous places on the fringes – with the misfits, the queers, the rejects, the ones society has labelled as ‘a failure to thrive’.

Thrive is as compelling as Mary’s work usually is. It is filled with horror, violence, cruelty and loss but from that desolate ground, Thrive gives us a rich soil from which grows beauty, love, hope and ways to use ideas to fight for better times without destruction. Thrive is also a very smart book, literate and funny while cracking along with wonderful characters and huge energy. Delightfully, a re-read is guaranteed to add extra depth to your appreciation, as you realise how cleverly plotted it is, and how so many ideas are intricately woven into the cloth of the whole.

Narrelle M Harris writes crime, horror, fantasy, romance and erotica – find out more at www.mortalwords.com.au