Stillwater

For fans of Jack Reacher, Tanya Scott's debut thriller introduces readers to Luke Harris, a man trying to move beyond his criminal past but finds himself forced back into his old life and a deadly battle to survive.
When Jack Quinlan's mother dies of a drug overdose, it's not his father that raises him, but Gus—a ruthless crime boss who sees Jack for what he is: a whip-smart kid with untapped potential. It doesn't take long for Gus to forge Jack into a weapon.
But Jack was also self-aware enough to know where this sort of life was going to lead him. When the time was right, he got out. Or so he thought.
Seven years later, Jack is now Luke Harris, a regular guy putting himself through college and aiming for a real job and a real future. Falling in love. But Jack's past isn't so easily forgotten, and the bodies in his closet won't forgive him.
When Luke's newfound life collides with Gus's underworld, survival becomes a deadly game. Luke must resurrect his dormant skills and confront the demons that threaten to consume him.

Tanya Scott is a writer, doctor and medical educator based on the Victorian Surf Coast. She has been writing for many years, including using narrative therapy as a tool to make sense of the world, both personally and with her patients. Many of the ideas for Stillwater stem from her work helping patients with childhood trauma – acknowledging that in reality, recovery is a long and incomplete path.