The Boy They Tried to Hide

As journalist and writer Shane Dunphy settles into the rural idyll that is his new life in the West of Ireland, a storm is gathering:

Rex Gifford, possibly the most dangerous predator Shane has ever faced, has been released from prison and begins targeting those Shane loves in a twisted plot to avenge himself against the man he believes is responsible for his incarceration. Can Shane outwit this most wily of foes, or has he met his match? As Gifford's tactics become more aggressive and threatening, and the police tell him that without evidence (which Gifford is far too clever to ever leave), they cannot help, Shane realises he may need to resort to fighting fire with fire - but is that what his adversary really wants?

Meanwhile Maura Bellamy, a friend of Shane's, asks him to investigate the death of a former student of hers, Tim Fox, who was sent to one of Ireland's toughest prisons due to the seemingly frivolous crime of unpaid parking tickets. A gentle young man with an intellectual disability, Maura believes he did not pay the fines due to his illiteracy - he did not know what the tickets meant, and could not read the letters demanding payment, and ultimately summoning his to court. Shane knows some people who work in the prison system, but warns Maura that she may not like what she learns. As he begins to explore the world Tim was plunged into, he learns that everything is far from what it seems.

And then there is Gregory, a little boy whose imaginary friend, Thomas, whom he tells his single mother lives in the woods around their little house, has started to become frighteningly real. As Shane befriends the family, he finds that Thomas seems to have sprung from a local ghost story, an old tale of incest and madness. And Thomas wants Gregory to go and play with him at night, out among the trees. Shane starts to wonder if he is in a battle save not just the sanity of this little boy, but possibly his soul as well.

Shane Dunphy worked for fifteen years as a frontline child protection worker in many different parts of Ireland. He now teaches social studies and psychology and is a regular contributor to television and radio programmes on issues of child and family welfare. He lives in Wexford with his family. The Ghost Boy is his ninth book.