"Intrigue, adrenaline, and great character studies" - review of STORM CHILD

STORM CHILD by Michael Robotham (Sphere, 2024)

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

Some memories are buried for a reason... The most painful of Evie Cormac's memories have been locked away, ever since she was held prisoner as a child - a child whose rescue captured hearts and headlines.

Forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven's mission is to guide her to something near normality. But today, on a Lincolnshire beach, seventeen bodies wash up in front of them. There is only one survivor, with two women still missing. And Evie's nightmares come roaring back... Whatever happened all those years ago lies at the core of this new tragedy. Because these deaths are no accident. The same dark forces are reaching out, dragging her back into the storm.

Evie must now call upon Cyrus's unique skills, and her own, in their search for the missing pieces of this complex and haunting puzzle. But will that be enough to save them? And who will pay for the past?... 

While Outback Noir has taken hold all over the reading world, thanks to authors like Jane Harper, Chris Hammer, Shelley Burr, and Gabriel Bergmoser (among many others), one giant of modern Australian crime writing has eschewed the rural landscapes of his homeland. In fact, Sydney author Michael Robotham, one of only a handful of authors in history to win multiple CWA Gold Daggers (ie, best crime novel in the English language, from any country) – as well as being the only non-British author, and only author this century to do it – has yet to set any of his 18 terrific novels in Australia.

So Robotham’s latest, Storm Child, the fourth to star forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven and enigmatic ‘human lie detector’ Evie Cormac, opens near the Lincolnshire seaside of England, looking out towards western Europe. When Cyrus and Evie witness a horrifying tragedy as bodies of desperate refugees wash up on the beach, Evie becomes catatonic, overwhelmed by nightmarish flashbacks. Cyrus, who has his own traumatic past and was a protégé of Robotham’s long-time protagonist Joe O’Loughlin, knows Evie was held prisoner as a child, likely trafficked, but not where she came from.

As the pair try to piece together Evie’s splintered memories while Cyrus helps the police deal with ongoing targeting of refugees, it becomes clear that evil deeds past and present are linked. 

While Robotham is a long-time master of thrilling storylines, his novels are built on much more than intrigue and adrenaline. In particular, he has a great touch for character, drawing readers in with the people in the story as much or more than the story itself. 

With the important revelations and character realisations in Storm Child, it’s a landmark novel in an outstanding series (one that’s already earned Robotham his second Gold Dagger, for Good Girl Bad Girl in 2020, and an Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for When She Was Good). Robotham delivers a masterful story that weaves together ripped-from-the-headlines issues of real importance with an entertaining, thought-provoking storyline and characters that make you care, deeply.

Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned writer, editor, podcast host, awards judge, and event chair. He's the founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards, co-founder of Rotorua Noir, author of Macavity and HRF Keating Award-shortlisted non-fiction work SOUTHERN CROSS CRIME, editor of the DARK DEEDS DOWN UNDER anthology series, and writes about books for magazines and newspapers in several countries.