A perfect life falls apart

GREENWICH PARK Katherine Faulkner Raven Books, £12.99

Greenwich Park is a delicious thriller with twists coming thick and fast. Set against the backdrop of the beloved London park, the main characters tell their stories in a diary format – baring not only their souls but also their betrayals. Pregnant Helen has a seemingly perfect life – until she meets Rachel at her antenatal class, and soon has to figure out who she can and can’t trust. Faulkner leans on her own backstory as a journalist as she weaves in a courtroom drama to add spice to the plot. The stories of Helen and her family and friends become so intertwined they infect everyone, the venom of lies stinging even the innocent.

THE ANTHILL Julianne Pachico Faber & Faber, £12.99

Julianne Pachico’s The

Anthill follows childhood friends born in Medellin, Colombia: Lina is returning after two decades away, while Matty stayed throughout the intervening period of national violence. From the start, their reunion is marked by caginess and deception: are they hiding from suspicion, or is this just the emotional impact of years apart? The mysteries gradually resolve, but Pachico is intelligent enough not to offer simple explanations. The story flirts with fantasy and horror without ever fully leaving the real world. While the characters’ emotional breakdowns are traced in all their vivid complexity, the book can also be read as a national parable for

Colombia, a newly peaceful country with intense status anxiety dealing with a conflicted past. As the story skips between different scenes, Pachico’s experience as a short story writer is evident and contributes to an intense and artful read.