Pine: The spine-chilling Sunday Times bestseller

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The characters, if given the chance, could have been developed into people that I'd be interested in reading about, but instead, I was left with characters that experience a terrible incident, or something supernatural, and all the do is lay about on the sofa, not talking about it, acting like nothing has happened.

The plot also has a nice mix of supernatural thriller and provincial town story. My favourite books are highly provincial (i.e. focusing on domestic, rural life with a focus on the role of nature/family in the community). It's unusual to find a book which fits this genre but is also hugely gripping. I read it in an afternoon and was hooked the whole way through. The result is a gripping, genre-bending book which provides plenty of thrills, supernatural and otherwise. Indeed, in the excitement of the story it’s easy to miss its subtle, realist aspects – particularly the challenges of living in a small, remote community especially if you are a young teenager raring to see the world. This novel should also be read for this.The setting is both beautiful and relentlessly claustrophobic, the author paints pictures with words and leaves the reader unbalanced yet fully immersed, it is a peculiar talent that held me in its thrall the entirety of the read. A) pacey horror-tinged novel ... Even with the strange and supernatural goings-on in the woods, it’s the rage and grief and darkness of grown-ups that’s the biggest mystery of all Telegraph, Best First Novels of 2020 Lauren looks for answers in her tarot cards, hoping she might one day be able to read her father’s turbulent mind. Neighbours know more than they let on, but when local teenager Ann-Marie goes missing it’s no longer clear whom she can trust.

Stars. Pine is written well and has an intriguing premise. I kept getting this particular title recommended to me. So, there we go: a range of books that I got in 2020 – save for the Scott Lynch – and do regret not reading during the year. Is regret the right word? Probably not to be honest: I do not regret the reading that I did do last year at all. But these are books that I would like to find time to catch up with this year – before prize season hits us again! Francine Toon was raised in the Highlands, and she ably uses a setting familiar to her to create a dark, uncanny atmosphere. The novel’s title refers both to Christine��s name for her daughter (Oren, the Gaelic word for “pine”) and to the forest which surrounds the village. As in traditional fairy tales, the “trees, coarse and tall in the winter light, standing like men” evoke dread but also a sense of something timeless and otherworldly. This idea is also visually conveyed in the brilliant, minimalist cover. This is true modern gothic ... Toon’s plain, poetic language has a hypnotic quality Harper’s BazaarCox, Roger (5 February 2020). "Book review: Pine, by Francine Toon". www.scotsman.com . Retrieved 29 September 2022. Ode to a 1980s Baton Twirling World Champion by Francine Elena". The Sunday Times. 12 July 2015 . Retrieved 25 January 2023. At Sceptre, Francine was known for bringing warmth and creativity to her meticulous editorial process and for fostering strong working relationships with authors. She consistently championed under-represented voices and developed initiatives to make publishing more accessible and transparent to authors from all walks of life. Mentoring new writers was one of the most rewarding aspects of Francine’s time at Hachette. She loves nothing more than discussing a work-in-progress, from the big, thematic ideas to the minutiae of sentence structure. Before joining The Novelry, Francine Toon was a Commissioning Editor at Sceptre, Hodder & Stoughton’s literary imprint, part of Hachette UK. She published distinctive, prize-winning fiction and worked on the novels of bestselling, world-renowned authors.

The prize was renamed in memory of William McIlvanney, often described as the Godfather of Tartan Noir, in 2016. The following morning, she wakes late to a silent house and discovers her father alone and grumpy in his bed and claiming to be unwell. When she asks about the girl from the night before, he angrily tells her that he doesn’t know what she is talking about. Both are given a welcome reprieve from the other when Billy phones to invite her to his house for apple scones. Meeting Billy partway, the pair skate around the edges of the pine woods that are as big as their neighbourhood and surrounding farms.If you estimated this novel to be 100,000 words, you could take out every sentence dedicated to the central mystery and only add up to 2,000 at most.