Maggie thinks being the middle child is rubbish: the oldest children, like her brother Jed, are revered and get all the best treatment.

In the eleven years of her life, Maggie has been taught that dangers lurk outside the boundaries of her small town — a place that is cut off from the rest of the world and where hardship is a part of everyone’s life.

But a chance encounter with a stranger sends Maggie down a perilous path, where the choice is between heroism and betrayal. As events spiral out of control, will Maggie the Middler measure up, or will she lose everything she holds dear?

This novel has a deceptively bucolic beginning, but hints of darkness soon combine to create a must-read climax. A cracking story.