Walking the fine line between fascination and obsession can be thrilling and electrifying, even if also terrifying and destructive. In Nightshift, Kiare Ladner's absorbing and surprising debut novel, Meggie Groenewald goes on a booze- and drug-fueled journey of sexual exploration when she becomes entranced by her seductive and enigmatic coworker Sabine Dubreil. Meggie and Sabine, both 23 years old, cover the night shift at a media monitoring company and work with an assorted collection of burnouts and eccentrics, who prowl seedy bars and clubs in the early morning hours. As Meggie struggles to adapt to a nocturnal schedule, she begins drinking too much and sleeping too little. Her infatuation with Sabine grows, though she can't decide whether what she feels is physical longing or a more complex desire to actually become Sabine.
Soon Meggie's life revolves around the push-and-pull dynamic that defines her "fairytale friendship" with her uninhibited coworker, prompting her to break up with her mild-mannered boyfriend, drop out of university and distance herself from her friends. Set in London in the late 1990s, the hectic urban scenery feels viscerally gritty and disorienting, dragging readers along down the rabbit hole of Meggie's decline. Her exploits also reveal hints about her true nature. Before their breakup, Meggie's boyfriend tells her he feels sorry for Sabine, adding, "It's terrible to be used like that." Within the tangled mess of Meggie's traumatic past and unhealthy fixation with Sabine, it becomes unclear who is the truly toxic one in the pair--and who is careening toward a more tragic outcome. --Angela Lutz, freelance reviewer