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The Good Father
Brief Description
Gordon and Sarah Rutherford are normal, happy people with successful, fulfilling lives. A son they adore, a house on the beach, and a safe, friendly, and honest community in a picture-postcard town on the Ayrshire coast. Until one day, Bonnie the lab comes in from the...
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The Good Father
$3400
$3699
Elsewhere:
Unit price
/
Unavailable
What could be worse than your child disappearing? An emotional, whip-smart and brilliantly clever thriller about a child's disappearance, and the disintegration of a family in the aftermath.
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Description
Gordon and Sarah Rutherford are normal, happy people with successful, fulfilling lives. A son they adore, a house on the beach, and a safe, friendly, and honest community in a picture-postcard town on the Ayrshire coast.
Until one day, Bonnie the lab comes in from the beach alone. Their son Rory has just gone—the only trace left is a single black Adidas slider.
Their lives don't fall apart immediately. While there's still hope (and no body), they can dig deep and try to carry on. Rather, it's a process of abrasion, a wearing away of that happiness and normality; a slow degradation, a gradual breakdown—until they'll never be the people they were before.
This sort of tragedy impacts a whole town. Does the community still feel the same after? What are folk saying about you? Who are your friends? Who can you trust?
When the worst thing has happened and you've lost everything, you either go under or you rebuild, start again. What could be worse than your child disappearing?
The Good Father by Liam McIlvanney explores these themes and more, touching on the resilience and heartache of those left behind.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781804186985
Publisher: Bonnier Books Ltd
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 03 July 2025
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Bonnier Books Ltd
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 153.0mm
Height: 234.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 416
About the Author
Liam McIlvanney was born in Scotland and studied at the universities of Glasgow and Oxford. He has written for numerous publications, including the London Review of Books and the Times Literary Supplement. His first book, Burns the Radical, won the Saltire First Book Award. His crime novels have won multiple awards, including the Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Prize, the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, and he has also been shortlisted for the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year. He is Stuart Professor of Scottish Studies at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He lives in Dunedin with his wife and four sons.
Also by Liam McIlvanney
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From the award-winning author comes a much-anticipated sequel to the Scottish Crime Book of the Year, The Quaker… Glasgow 1975 A deadly fireAn arson attack on a Glasgow warehouse causes the deaths of a young mother and child. Police suspect it’s the latest act in a brutal gang warfare that’s tearing the city apart – one that DI Duncan McCormack...Paperback$3299Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Pre-orderThe Good Father
WHEN A CHILD DISAPPEARS, NO SECRET IS SAFE . . . THE TIMES THRILLER OF THE MONTH 'This is McIlvanney at his masterful best' - DAILY MAIL 'A moving and absorbing dive into grief and love, and how far a parent would go to save their child' - OBSERVER 'Fascinating, moving, disturbing, and surely Liam McIlvanney's best novel to date'...Paperback$2799Unit price /UnavailableOut 1 Sep 2026Pre-order -
Where the Dead Men Go
After three years in the wilderness, hardboiled reporter Gerry Conway is back at his desk at the Glasgow Tribune. But three years is a long time on newspapers and things have changed—readers are dwindling, budgets are tightening, and the Trib's once rigorous standards are slipping. Once the paper's star reporter, Conway now plays second fiddle to his former protégé, crime...PaperbackSold Out -
The Quaker
The Quaker is watching you… In the chilling new crime novel from award-winning author Liam McIlvanney, a serial killer stalks the streets of Glasgow, and DI McCormack follows a trail of secrets to uncover the truth… Winner of the 2018 McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year A city torn apart. It is 1969, and Glasgow has been...PaperbackSold Out
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