Name: Ashley Kalagian Blunt - Cold Truth
Start: 2025-02-13T18:30:00+10:00
Location: 193 Boundary Street, West End, West End, QLD, Australia, Queensland 4101

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 13 2025 | INSTORE EVENT
6.00pm for a 6.30pm start | 60 mins
Join us for the Brisbane launch of Ashley Kalagian Blunt's Cold Truth. Ashley will be joined in conversation by Martine Kropkowski.
ABOUT THE BOOK
When you can fake anything, how do you know what’s real?
Harlow Close has made a career as an influencer uncovering the secrets of Winnipeg, dubbed ‘North America's strangest city’. The region is renowned for its sub-zero temperatures, dropping to minus 40 degrees – sometimes for months at a time. Yet, it’s not just the frigid winters and geographic seclusion that render Winnipeg peculiar.

When Harlow’s father mysteriously disappears amid a brutal cold snap, suspicions of foul play arise. It’s not like Scott to miss phone calls – and he’s been even more cautious since that time he was catfished by a romance scammer. Unhappy with the pace of the police investigation, Harlow launches her own search, enlisting her sister Blaise’s reluctant help.
As Harlow struggles to uncover what happened to her father, she’s forced to question everything and everyone around her – including herself.
PRAISE FOR COLD TRUTH:
‘With Dark Mode, Ashley Kalagian Blunt announced her arrival on the thriller scene with a bang. In this follow-up, we would expect nothing less than a smart, twisty plot, set in an unforgettable place and populated by deeply human characters – but Cold Truth does even more than that. In bringing us into the depths of Canadian winter, Ashley takes us right into what makes us who we are. Blood ties and shady online dealings come to the fore in this enthralling novel. I adored this book – compelling crime fiction at its absolute best.’ – Hayley Scrivenor, author of Dirt Town and Girl Falling
‘Cold Truth is bone-chilling in every way: a missing father, a complicated relationship between sisters and a taut mystery in an icy Canadian winter. With twists that had me gasping, the story rocketed towards a gripping finale. I could not put it down! Another explosive thriller from the master of the cliff-hanger.’ – Petronella McGovern, author of The Liars and The Last Trace
‘Ashley Kalagian Blunt has done it again, delivering another propulsive psychological thriller that filled me with dread from the first page to its shocking conclusion. Set in the depths of the Canadian winter, Cold Truth was truly chilling; a relentless ride that had me guessing at every turn and reading into the early hours of the morning. Kalagian Blunt has established herself as the master of terrifying, addictive thrillers that will leave you questioning your own safety.’ – Shankari Chandran, author of Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens and Unfinished Business
‘Vivid, twisty, fast-paced and action-packed, I tore through Cold Truth in two days. It left me shivering – with both cold and the stark reminder that in this world where anything can be faked, truth is as stable as quicksand.’ – Pip Drysdale, author of The Next Girl and The Close-Up
‘Atmospheric, twisty and terrifying, Cold Truth is a taut and pulse-racing thriller that left me with an icy shiver. A story of sisterhood, loss, deceit and triumph – laced with the menace (and malice) of the dark web. I devoured this moreish book and was devastated to finish it. Ashley Kalagian Blunt just keeps on getting better and better.’ – Ali Lowe, author of The School Run and The Running Club
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ashley Kalagian Blunt writes to expose the myriad ways our technology makes us vulnerable. She is the number one bestselling author of Dark Mode, a psychological thriller published in multiple territories and languages. Dark Mode was shortlisted for the 2024 ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year, and was voted number 20 in the Better Reading Top 100.

Her earlier books are How to Be Australian, a memoir, and My Name Is Revenge, collected fiction and essays, which was a finalist in the 2018 Carmel Bird Digital Literary Award. Her writing appears in the Sydney Morning Herald, Overland, Griffith Review, Sydney Review of Books, Australian Book Review, K*ll Your Darlings and more.

Ashley co-hosts James and Ashley Stay at Home, a podcast about writing, creativity and health, and has taught creative writing across Australia. Originally from Winnipeg, Canada, she lived and worked in South Korea, Peru and Mexico before moving to Gadigal land.