Australian comedian Meg Riddoch has made it to the Big Time. She's an icon to her fans, a darling of the media, schmoozed by television networks and an A-list guest at festivals abroad.She's a month and three countries into her current tour, a week away from home in Brisbane - though what exactly 'home' means is problematic these days.On a flight between gigs, a recurring dream raises disturbing questions. It's Northern Ireland Meg can't escape - a secret life in another time, a life of lies, pacts and forbidden alliances.Haunting flashbacks provide clues to a past long ago buried. Then there's her relationship with Murray and where it went wrong . . .Out of the spotlight and beneath the punchlines, Meg discovers that memory will find a way to break the surface.Shifting in time and place between Canada, Australia and Northern Ireland, The Thompson Gunner is a compelling novel of self-discovery that will intrigue, surprise and linger well after the last page.