Reviewed by Kate Coughlan.

A road trip across Europe, from Paris to the south of Italy, two young couples travelling companionably by car and stopping where the history, scenery or the beach most appeals. Plenty of money to spend on local delicacies and well-appointed Air BnBs. Dreamy, huh, a travelogue maybe?

Oh no, this chilling thriller, the debut novel by Freddie Gilles unfolds in a doozy of a plot as these four Kiwis on their OE get into a self-described "fucking mess." One minute, they're living it up with their well-paid jobs, fuelling a good life, steady relationships and prospects. Next minute, they're in the worst of times, as reckless foolishness sends those lives careering wildly astray. 

From the foreboding prologue and for the following nearly eight hours of the audiobook, menace lurks in the shadow of every sunny scene. Dread. It stalks the prose. The characters are likeable enough, but do they have the ability to steer away from the dangers that we, the readers, see inevitably ahead?  The tension is bottleable.

"Don't order that next bottle of champagne," I find myself silently willing Jayrd, knowing that his insecurities will not be calmed by more booze but only inflamed. We all know a Jaryd or two and the spiral of trouble their drunken behaviour can attract. "Please enjoy the view, read your guidebooks and take an early night," I plead.

But no, they drink more and are provoked into more conflict within their group and even with strangers, innocents whose only misfortune is to cross their path.

Booze and coke, sexual attraction and aggression, insecurity and competitiveness and none of it openly discussed: a dangerous cocktail for most of us and for this vulnerable foursome, perhaps a lethal mix. 

Is this what it was like to be Jack Kerouac's mother, reading "On the Road"? Did she mutter, "No, Jack, please don't"? I cared enough to hope they could avoid ending up in that mess, which, of course, they didn't. It wouldn't be a thriller if they did. "Happily ever after" isn't literature but a fairy tale. And this novel is definitely no fairy tale. A morality tale, more like. 

The characters are taut creatures, the men slightly more deftly drawn than the women. Relationships are complex, delicately exposed and explored. The plot takes a mean grip and ranges back and forth across families and jobs, revealing the telling "two degrees of separation" that is the underbelly of mainstream New Zealand society. We New Zealanders are all connected, wherever we might be living, and for some, that history is not good. 

The air of the brooding malevolence reminds me of the nightmare which entangled British student Amanda Knox, charged and almost certainly wrongfully convicted of murder, and made me very afraid for these foolhardy Kiwis. They're on a holiday break from their lives. One couple living in London, the other in Paris and each couple typical middle class 20-somethings working variously in HR, fashion, carbon credit-sales and an IT start-up. They think they're bulletproof. 

Great plot, excellent character development, especially with the men and a capable narrator who copes with a great quantity of direct speech. He takes a low-key approach to their voices, and it works. He excels at the dialogue, perhaps more so than the prose.

Not a read for anyone looking to be cheered up or who wishes to avoid becoming anxious. I look forward to more from Freddie Gillies.

Title: Because All Fades
By: Freddie Gillies
Narrated by: Tony Webster
Length: 7 hours 40 minutes