ShutterSpeed, by A. J. Betts

It’s the nightmare again. He wakes himself out of it and lies in the darkness. He wishes it didn’t get to him so much.
It started a couple of weeks back. At first there’d just been the car with a woman inside. Her face was hidden by hair as the car turned. As he stood and watched, the car revolved as though in slow motion, her face somehow staying out of sight.

Dustin lives with his quiet father and the shadow of his long-dead mother. All he wants is to live his life quietly, surviving until he finishes year 12 and can start his life for real. For weeks he has been disturbed by a recurring dream of a car crash, but it’s just a dream. Dreams aren’t real, are they?

Working in his father’s photo lab, Dustin’s life is changed when he finds a photo stuck in the machine. He wants to know who the woman in the photo is, and when he knows, he wants to meet her. Soon, Dustin’s innocent interest has become a dangerous fascination.

ShutterSpeed is a fast moving first novel, with the use of camera and photo imagery, flashbacks and foreshadowing taking readers on a ride almost as wild as the Ducati motorbike which features in the story. Prepare to be surprised.

Suitable for teen readers, both male and female.

ShutterSpeed, by A. J. Betts
Fremantle Press, 2008