“If it had another name, I never knew, but the locals called it the Loney – that strange nowhere between the Wyre and the Lune where Hanny and I went every Easter time with Mummer, Farther, Mr and Mrs Belderboss and Father Wilfred, the parish priest.  It was impossible to truly know the place. It changed with each influx and retreat, and the neap tides would reveal the skeletons of those who thought they could escape its insidious currents. No one ever went near the water. No one apart from us, that is.  I suppose I always knew that what happened there wouldn’t stay hidden for ever, no matter how much I wanted it to. No matter how hard I tried to forget . . .”

The Loney is a wonderfully dark novel.  The characters are highly suspicious folk and frankly quite sinister.  The Loney itself where most of the action happens is very atmospheric and I felt the loneliness and desolation of the place.  I wouldn’t necessary label the book as a horror novel though.  Gothic, yes. Horror, no.  There are supernatural aspects as you work your way towards the end (not normally my cup of tea) but I have to say I very much enjoyed this book.

The suspense is high and it keeps you turning the pages.  I looked forward to reading this book at the end of a busy day and was somewhat disappointed when it ended (not by the story I should add but just from the end of a good story!).

Four out of five stars.