A big, suspenseful, page-turning debut novel of teen summers and unsolved murders, by an award-winning rising Irish star
A gripping literary page-turner from a rising Irish talent in which former friends, estranged for twenty years, reckon with the terrifying events of the summer that changed their lives.

In the seaside village of Kinlough, on Ireland's west coast, three old friends meet for the first time in years. They-Helen, Joe and Mush-were part of an original group of six inseparable teenagers in the summer of 2003, with motherless, reckless Kala Lanann at its white-hot center. But later that year, Kala disappeared without a trace. Now human remains have been discovered in the woods-including a skull with a Polaroid photo tucked inside-and the town is both aghast and titillated at the reopening of such an old wound.

On the eve of this gruesome discovery, Helen had reluctantly returned for her father's wedding; the world-famous musician Joe had come home to dry out and reconnect with something authentic; and Mush had never left, too shattered by the events of that summer to venture beyond the counter of his mother's cafe. But when two more girls go missing, they are forced to confront their own complicity in the events that led to Kala's disappearance. Ultimately, they must do what others should have done before to stop the violent patterns of their town's past repeating themselves once again.

In cracklingly vivid prose, Kala brilliantly examines the sometimes brutal costs of belonging, as well as the battle in the human heart between vengeance and forgiveness, despair and redemption.
Colin Walsh's short stories have won several awards including the RTE Francis MacManus Short Story Prize and the Hennessy Literary Award. In 2019 he was named Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year. His writing has been published in the Stinging Fly, the Irish Times and broadcast on RTE Radio 1 and BBC Radio 4. KALA is his first novel. He is from Galway and lives in Belgium.
'Kala is a thriller - and a lot more. It is exciting and cleverly structured, but its greatstrength is the characters: they are terrific.' - Roddy Doyle, the Booker Prize- winning author ofLife Without Children

'Kala is so good. Skilfully assembled, suspenseful, brilliant about being a teenager and then ofthe difficult experience, as an adult, of going back home' - Sara Baume, author of Seven Steeples


'The very definition of page-turner, full of big personalities, rapid twists and unpredictablemoments, cast both in vivid colour and deepest shadow. I tore through it.' - Lisa Mclnerney, authorof The Rules of Revelation


'Colin Walsh's debut is a heartbreaking story of love and lost youth that is at once tender andabsolutely gutting. Psychologically rangy and ultimately riveting, Kala is a book you'll not just
ead and love, but lend to those you love' - Smith Henderson, author of Fourth of July Creek


'I was kept awake until the birds were singing. What a story. I was riveted. It captures so much ofthe essence of the thrill and excitement of teenage summers, the wonderful optimism of youth andfirst loves, and the ease with which corruption and evil can take hold and thrive. This is a
dazzling novel.' -Donal Ryan, author of The Queen of Dirt Island