Then We’ll Be Safe by Jes Hart Stone

Set against the stark beauty of 1970s British Columbia, Then We’ll Be Safe is a gripping psychological thriller about childhood pain, abuse, and neglect, and about the lies we tell ourselves in our desperate need to be loved.

Crystal Lynn Harsh takes revenge on her mother’s abusive boyfriend’s fingers with a pair of tree loppers. Majorca Fairhaven catches her boyfriend cheating and sends his car sinking into a lake. Two teenage girls. Two violent turning points.

Strangers from opposite worlds, they form a fierce bond while fleeing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Their path takes them along the notorious Highway of Tears—one of Canada’s most dangerous and isolated stretches of road—where hitchhiking becomes survival and survival becomes something darker.

As their crime spree escalates, the wilderness itself turns hostile: poisonous insects, predatory wildlife, and the psychological weight of what they’ve done. Their only hope is to reach Crystal’s grandmother’s home—because then, they believe, they’ll finally be safe.

Meanwhile, the RCMP’s first female constable fights both institutional prejudice and her own doubts as she risks everything to save them.

If Thelma & Louise were Canadian, this would be their story.