Going undercover is hard enough when she has to contend with the village boys who are already suspicious of her, but then Wren meets head of security Tarc, and suddenly her covert mission gets even more complicated. As her family’s last hope, Wren gains an internship at the Harkness Foundation, otherwise known as judge HQ, in order to gain secret information that will aid the augars in their quest for survival. For one circle to gain full power, the other has to fall, and this is a battle neither intends to lose. The ancient feud between the judges and augars is at breaking point. And not just for Wren, but everyone she cares about. If the judges knew she was an augar – their sworn enemy hiding in plain sight – things would get deadly. Wren hates the game but she knows it could be worse.

These boys are judges, a privileged and powerful faction who don masks and delight in the pursuit of hunting a frightened girl in the dark. It’s part family drama, part eerie thriller and part Romeo and Juliet style romance, resulting in that rare kind of novel with the power to pull your heart apart and stitch it back together again.Įvery winter on St Stephen’s Day, Wren Silke is an unwilling participant in a twisted childhood game where village boys chase her through the forest. Steeped in folklore, rituals and Irish traditions, Mary Watson’s The Wren Hunt is a debut that envelops you with magic and myth.

The Wren Hunt by Mary Watson