The Loney
'Full of unnerving terror . . . amazing' Stephen King
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3.6 • 75 Ratings
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
PRE-ORDER SALTWASH NOW: THE DISTURBING NEW NOVEL FROM ANDREW MICHAEL HURLEY
'The Loney is not just good, it's great. It's an amazing piece of fiction' Stephen King
Easter 1976. Two teenage brothers, one mute, the other his lifelong protector, set off on a retreat with their parents and others from their church to a Catholic shrine on a wild, ever-changing stretch of Lancashire coastline known as the Loney. Led by new incumbent Father Bernard, the pilgrims dutifully observe the traditions leading up to the Resurrection, but the boys learn that there is a much older, darker power to be found in the landscape itself, one which is being tapped by strange rituals on the tidal island of Coldbarrow.
Many years later, a child's body is discovered, and the two brothers are forced to confront the horrors of the past. The Loney always gives up its secrets, in the end.
WINNER OF THE 2015 COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD
THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016
'This is a novel of the unsaid, the implied, the barely grasped or understood, crammed with dark holes and blurry spaces that your imagination feels compelled to fill' Observer
'A masterful excursion into terror' The Sunday Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A palpable pall of menace hangs over British author Hurley's thrilling first novel, narrated by a London boy, "Tonto" Smith, whose affectionate nickname was bestowed by a parish priest who likened himself to the Lone Ranger. Tonto and his family undertake an Easter pilgrimage to the Moorings, a house overlooking a treacherous swath of tide-swept Cumbrian coast known as the Loney. Smith's devoutly Catholic mother hopes that taking the waters at the nearby shrine will cure his older brother, Hanny, of his lifelong muteness. But the Cumbrian landscape seems anything but godly: nature frequently manifests in its harshest state and the secretive locals seem beholden to primitive rites and traditions that mock the religious piety of the visitors. Adding to the mystery is Coldbarrow, a spit of land turned twice daily by the tides into an island, where a man, a woman, and a pregnant teenage girl have taken refuge in a gloomy house named Thessaly. Hurley (Cages and Other Stories) tantalizes the reader by keeping explanations for what is happening just out of reach, and depicting a natural world beyond understanding. His sensitive portrayal of Tonto and Hanny's relationship and his insights into religious belief and faith give this eerie tale depth and gravity.
Customer Reviews
A strange but compelling read...
Not at all as I had expected. This is a strange story, with some strange characters too.
The plot twists and turns for a long time with characters that are you think will be important but actually are just soon to be forgotten foundations to the wider story.
I spent a long while reading this, aware that nothing had really happened, even as I had real half way, meaning it was compelling and well told.
Not a very happy book, not a feel good book, but a recommended read nonetheless.
Unsettling debut
This is a deeply unsettling gothic novel, where the reader's mind tries to read between the (often startlingly written, and worth remembering) sentences and phrases to guess at the something very wrong which is clearly going to happen.
With fully-formed characters, and the tension ratcheting upwards, the reader is trapped, unable to break free before the destination is reached- and you just know it's not going to be a destination you would willingly choose.
I only guessed the denouement 60 pages from the end, and very much hoped that the author had something else in mind (he didn't, in fact he made it even worse than I imagined).
I've never read a novel quite like this one, which will stay locked in my brain for quite a while.
If the film Deliverance is your cup of tea, this novel is for you - provided, perhaps, you're not of the Catholic persuasion; or, maybe, pregnant.
This isn't a novel I enjoyed reading - it really isn't that kind of experience- but it is astonishingly written and will haunt you long afterward.
Will I read The Loney again in a hurry? No.
Will I forget it in a hurry? Emphatically, No.
Boring
This book was so boring I just didn't get it.. haven't read anything worse then this