From the author of the Sunday Times bestseller, Pine, comes a haunting and atmospheric new gothic thriller, set in the brooding Scottish landscape.
'In this corner of Fife, summer nights meant parties on wind-blown beaches, wrapped in hoodies and denim jackets, pretending you weren’t cold in the stubborn evening light.'
Joanie, 2013. Desperate to flee the claustrophobia of St Rule, Joanie has been looking forward to her big escape. But at the eleventh hour this dream slips through her hands. Devastated, Joanie falls into the orbit of an enigmatic couple – a pair of charismatic academics at the town’s university – who offer her a new kind of freedom.
Cameron, 2023. When Cameron arrives back in St Rule for Christmas, a question burns in his mind: whatever happened to Joanie? It’s been a decade since he saw his former friend. But as he starts to look for answers, it becomes clear that someone wants to keep this secret buried at all costs. How far should he go in pursuit of the truth?
A bravura sequence of adolescent thrill and romantic fireworks that shows Toon at the peak of her powers... What Toon’s really fabulous at… are those compelling teenage relationships that she opens the novel with and whose upshot she unfolds moreishly a decade later. - Sunday Times
Like so much good horror, this is about guilt and unreliable memory - Wendy Holden, Daily Mail
Skilfully handled themes of guilt, regret and adolescent confusion coupled with dark academia make for an insidious tingle of doom - Guardian
Toon’s gift for creating an otherworldly atmosphere in small towns with big secrets is present once again in a novel that explores the desire to escape the ordinary - Scotsman
Toon is great on atmosphere - Mail on Sunday
Atmospheric... Toon layers unease and memory, crafting a chilling, slow-burn novel - i Newspaper
[An] atmospheric tale of buried secrets . . . This absolute masterclass in suspense is genuinely unputdownable. I devoured it in a day. - The Bookseller
Explores youthful naivety, adult choices, and how past actions can haunt us for years - Woman & Home
An utterly gripping novel which keeps you guessing until the end. - Scottish Field
A taut, eerie exploration of memory, belief, and the treacherous edges of girlhood. Francine Toon has a knack for getting deep under the skin. - Kirsty Logan, author of Things We Say in the Dark
Dark, beguiling, and steeped in menace, Francine Toon spins a brooding mystery which shimmers with unease. It perfectly captures that dread of teenage girlhood. - Lucy Rose, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Lamb
